April 24, 2007 - World
Poker Tour to visit Spain during season six
The World Poker Tour is finally utilizing the "World"
portion of their official name. For the most part WPT
events are held in the United States with the exception of
an annual event in France and a 2 Bahamas events. This
year the WPT will host an event in Spain. Here is the
press release we found on the World Poker Tour website.
LOS ANGELES (April 19, 2007) – Adding its 14th official
casino member to a growing international roster, WPT
Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: WPTE) today announced that it
signed an Expansion Member Agreement with Grup Peralada—the
largest operator of casinos in Spain. The deal will create
a new stop on the Season VI World
Poker Tour® (WPT) at Spain’s prestigious Casino
Barcelona in October 2007.
The two companies also inked an agreement to explore
collaboration opportunities in Spain’s internet-based
poker space. The parties will also discuss the creation of
a Spanish tour featuring televised poker tournaments in
various Grup Peralada and other prime casino venues, as
well as additional WPT regional tour stops in Portugal and
South America.
“This is a very important move for us as we continue to
expand our business in the European market," said Steve
Lipscomb, President, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
of WPTE. “The partnership with Grup Peralada is a
ground-breaking deal that will allow both companies to
benefit from each other’s strengths to create exciting new
growth and business opportunities. We are very excited to
kick off our relationship with Grup Peralada with the
inaugural WPT stop in Spain at the prestigious Casino
Barcelona.”
“This agreement further reinforces our leading position in
Poker,” said Oliver Zugel, CEO of Grup Peralada´s Casino
Division. “It will create a new standard for premium,
televised poker events in Europe and lay the groundwork
for an Iberian tour involving other leading casinos in
Spain and Portugal.”
The WPT announced today another development on the
European leg of the tour—the Grand Prix de Paris
tournament will be held at the Aviation Club as originally
announced, but the WPT has canceled plans to film the
event. Due to changes in France’s gaming environment, the
WPT did not receive in time the assurances needed to
proceed with filming the tournament. WPT will continue to
work with Parisian officials to obtain permission to film
at the Aviation Club at a later date. WPT has a great
relationship with the Aviation Club and looks forward to
resuming its tour stops in France.
WPT will now kick off Season VI May 19th with the Mirage
Poker Showdown at The Mirage, Las Vegas. For the most
up-to-date information on our Tour Schedule, please visit
www.worldpokertour.com/tournament.
