World Poker Tour Championship Boasts Largest Prize Pool

LAS VEGAS – (Press Release) -- The second season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) culminates Friday, April 23 at Bellagio in Las Vegas when one winner will walk away with $2,728,356, the largest-ever prize paid to the first place finisher in a televised poker tournament or North American sporting event.

The WPT Championship attracted 343 players to Bellagio for a record-smashing $8.6 million prize pool, the highest ever in tournament poker, with the player finishing 50th earning $33,266. The buy-in for the tournament was $25,300, the largest in the sport. Last year's WPT Championship at Bellagio drew 111 players with victor Alan Goehring taking home a $1,011,886 slice of the more than $2.6 million purse. Last Saturday, a satellite tournament at Bellagio (leading up to the WPT Championship) established an all-time record as poker's first $1 million super-satellite tournament with 447 participants.

The 2004 first place prize money for the WPT Championship exceeds the first place money paid to the winners of tennis' U.S. Open ($1 million), the PGA's Players Championship ($1.44 million), the LPGA Championship ($1.6 million), Daytona 500 ($1.4 million) and the Indianapolis 500 ($1.35 million).

"We are proud of our partnership with the World Poker Tour and what we've accomplished for poker and its players in just 15 months," said Doug Dalton, director of poker operations at Bellagio. "We appreciate the contributions of everyone at the WPT and all of our supporters to help pull off the most successful finale in the history of poker. It is the highlight of the year for Bellagio, our poker players and guests."

The WPT Championship caps a second season, 14-tournament tour that saw the total prize money increase from $10 million in the first season to an astonishing $30 million. The season-sending WPT Championship, which began earlier today, concludes Friday with the filming of the final table featuring the top six tournament chip leaders. The show will air on The Travel Channel Wednesday, June 30. The World Poker Tour airs every Wednesday evening from 9-11 PM (ET/PT), also on The Travel Channel.

The WPT has been the force behind the nation's newfound love affair with poker. Since the show began airing in March 2003, poker has become the hottest pastime in America. The series revolutionized televised poker by offering expert analysis, 17 camera angles and close-ups of the players' hole cards creating a whole new element of high-stakes, high-anxiety excitement. The Tour travels to 14 leading resorts, exotic locales and card clubs to showcase the top poker in the world on a weekly basis.

The WPT television series has captured millions of TV viewers thanks to its hallmarks a blend of high caliber sports-style production shot from 17 different camera angles, expert commentary, cliffhanging "reality TV" drama and the WPT's signature "ace in the hole" -- its revolutionary WPT Cams, that reveal the player's hidden cards to the television audience, making it possible for audiences to feel like they're sitting in the seat making million dollar decisions on each hand.