Guide to the World Poker Tour (WPT)

World Poker Tour LLC is a media and entertainment company, engaged in the development, production and marketing of television programming and live poker events, as well as the licensing and sale of branded consumer and home entertainment products featuring the highly successful World Poker Tour brand. The WPT are a home name brand and feature a collection of poker tournaments that are played across the United States.

The WPT was the first televised poker event to introduce the hole card camera which single handedly turned poker into a spectator sport.

The WPT brand was started by Steven Lipscomb, a former CEO of WPTE Enterprises, who managed the World Poker Tour up until PartyGaming acquired them in November 2009 for $12.3M.

An alliance was formed in December 2014 with OurGame in which a licensing agreement was reached. In June 2015, OurGame International Holdings Ltd purchased the World Poker Tour (WPT) for $35M in cash.

Playing in a WPT Event

The WPT has risen to a huge level of popularity and is open to anyone to enter. You will however have to foot the buy in for a WPT event which is generally between $5,000-$10,000. These events are the US equivalent of the European Poker Tour events and are just as popular within US shores.

The size of the WPT prize pool depends on the number of entrants and is shared among the top finishers. Usually around 25% of the prize pool goes to the winner and the rest is shared amongst the other top 30 players.

There are tons of places to find qualifiers running. Most of the top sites have qualifiers running, including PokerStars, Party Poker and Full Tilt Poker.

Registering for a WPT event

If you've decided to join one of the events:

- Check out the WPT tournament schedule and choose the tournament in which you want to play.

- Contact the participating casino to confirm the dates of the tournaments and to obtain information on the buy-in fee and registration deadlines.

- Register with and provide payment to the host casino to reserve a seat in the tournament.

- Play in the tournament and make your way to the Final Table for a chance to win a share of the prize pool and be a part of WPT history.

There is an alternative...

You can avoid having to pay up to $10,000 for a buy-in by winning a qualifier online. Buy-in amounts to these qualifiers can range from $1 up to several hundred dollars. Compare poker rooms and get started.

How do WPT Qualifiers Work?

WPT qualifiers give you the chance to get into one of the events on the cheap. Each satellite will offer a certain number of seats to the event, depending on the prize pool. If direct entry costs $5,000 and the satellite costs $100 and has 1000 runners, there will be 20 seats. Place in the top 20 and you gain entry to the event, for a vastly discounted price.

To find satellites in your room of choice, there is usually a tab specifically for tournament satellites.

Before joining any room, be sure to check out our bonus offers to see how to get a little extra when you sign up.

 
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