China

When World Poker Tour Enterprises announced almost two months ago that the company was facing dire economic strain, one of their upcoming aces in the hole that they hoped would dig them out of the recession was their China edition of their World Poker Tour TV show. Now at last, the show was arrived.

WPT China debuted on China’s Nanjing Entertainment Television channel and is already making history, as the program represents the first time a government-sanctioned poker tournament has been aired nationwide in the country. The series has 16 planned events to take place within China, but most interestingly enough, the main game of the tournaments will not be Texas Hold’em, but rather Traktor Poker.

Basically, Traktor Poker is a cross between bridge and gin, where teams of either two or four players play against each other. Traktor is dealt using two full decks complete with jokers, and is actually considered an official sport by the CLSAC (China Leisure Sports Administration).

Filming has already been completed on the entire first season and four tournaments of season two, with the first episode appearing this month in the Jiangsu province. Broadcasting will then be expanded into additional provinces in the months to come. The grand finale will be played in Beijing in June.

As an avid WPT fan, I’m definitely on the bandwagon of supporting any and all things WPT, and so should any international players that have the ability to watch the WPT China episodes. If nothing else, you get to see what team-based poker is like! Check it out!

Steve Lipscomb, CEO of the World Poker Tour, either needs to get himself a PR person or a gag. Once again the "Loose Lipped" Lipscomb has put his foot in his generously proportioned mouth.

You will remember back when the Gang of Seven (Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Annie Duke, Andy Bloch, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Phil Gordon) complained about WPT using their images to promote the WPT online poker site and eventually this led to their boycotting the World Poker Tour and a long and confusing legal battle that still lines the pockets of serveral dozen lawyers. Well back then Mr. Lipscomb put out an "Open Letter" that basically said: "We won't do that again, you can trust us." [Full text below]

Now Mr. Lipscomb has made a deal with the Chinese Government perhaps giving the WPT access to the largest untapped poker market on the planet. No problem Steve but do you really intend to take business tips from the Chinese? as you describe them:

"the most forward looking capitalists on the globe."

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Here is the full text of what the WPT CEO had to say about those free market fanatics, the Chinese.

BEIJING: Tournament poker is coming to China — a country that still strictly outlaws all forms of gambling.

World Poker Tour Enterprises Inc. said it would sign an agreement on today with the China Leisure Sports Administrative Center. The partnership will "promote the sport of poker, by helping to create, expand and commercialize China's first ever national poker competition," World Poker Tour Enterprises said in a statement.

It said the partnership agreement would run for five years, with an option to extend. Additional details weren't given and it wasn't clear what stakes participants would play for. This deal will not be focused on the island gambling mecca of Macau but rather on mainland China, which represents a different challenge because the Communist government forbids gambling, categorizing it as a form of criminal, anti-social behavior along the lines of prostitution and drug use.