WPT launches new Internet poker room - Las Vegas Sun News
A West Hollywood, Calif.-based poker empire has launched an Internet gambling site and hopes to be the first U.S. company to capitalize on the white-hot poker trend.
June 30, 2024
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WPT launches new Internet poker room
By Liz Benston
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 | 10:56 a.m.
A West Hollywood, Calif.-based poker empire has launched an Internet gambling site and hopes to be the first U.S. company to capitalize on the white-hot poker trend.
The company joins a competitive world of online poker rooms run by companies that are largely offshore and unregulated so as to escape prosecution by the Department of Justice, which has issued opinions that Internet gambling is illegal in the United States.
Publicly traded WPT Enterprises Inc. owns the World Poker Tour, a poker tournament series with events in Las Vegas and around the world and which is is broadcast on the Travel Channel cable network and in nearly 100 countries worldwide.
The new site, WPTonline.com, offers real-money poker games and other casino games such as slots and blackjack. To avoid prosecution, the site will attempt to block bets from U.S. players and countries where Internet gambling is prohibited.
Americans generate the vast majority of bets on poker sites and other Internet gambling sites. Keeping them out led to the early demise of several online casinos or plans to open them by major Las Vegas companies including MGM Mirage, Station Casinos Inc. and Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. Las Vegas Sands Corp. also has abandoned previous plans to launch an Internet gambling site for non-U.S. residents. That site would have been based in Alderney, an island near France in the British Channel that had developed Internet gambling regulations and now hosts the World Poker Tour site.
WPT Enterprises hopes to succeed where U.S. casinos failed.
“We’re not location-based, we’re television-based,” said Daniel Paul, vice president of marketing for WPTonline.com. “The hope is that you’re watching the show and you want to be a part of it. You want to learn poker. This can be your launching pad to do it.”
The company uses three blocking methods to keep out U.S. gamblers including a Web-based location tracking device and data provided by specific countries such as postal registries and credit card databases.
The World Poker Tour site allows U.S. residents and people located in countries with bans to gamble for free, a preparatory step should the U.S. decide to allow Internet gambling.
Sue Schneider, publisher of Interactive Gaming News and a consultant for Internet gambling sites, said the company has a unique advantage over casino companies.
Unlike some major U.S. casino brands, The World Poker Tour television show is as well known abroad, Schneider said. The timing also is right for poker, she added.
“They have a huge position internationally and I’d think their ability to cross-market (the site) would be pretty good,” she said.
More than 80 governments worldwide allow some form of Internet gambling, according to Interactive Gaming News. The United Kingdom passed a bill this year that includes rules to regulate online gambling sites, while several European countries allow Internet gambling within their borders.
It’s unclear whether the World Poker Tour’s move will sway the federal government’s hard-line approach, Schneider said.
Efforts to legalize online gambling for residents in North Dakota and the U.S. Virgin Islands were quickly quashed by the Department of Justice, she said.
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FAQ
Where is the WPT World Championship in 2024?
There was never a doubt the historic World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas would return in 2024.Apr 4, 2024
WPT Tokyoは違法ですか？
WPT TOKYOの参加費はすべて施設利用や運営費用に充てられ、賞金は全てスポンサーから提供される、という仕組みのため、違法になりません。 さらに、メインイベントは順位によって獲得できる賞金額も予め決められていて、サイドイベントの入賞では海外渡航のサポートやトーナメントの参加費として使えるのみとなっています。2024/04/09
Does WPT still exist?
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The WPT Prime Championship commences from the Wynn Las Vegas each year. The tournament truly sets a new bar for attendance and prize money for a live poker event. The 2023 edition of the WPT Prime Championship awarded more than $10 million for the $1,100 buy-in event.
Does World poker use real money?
We’d Love Your Feedback! WSOP is intended for those 21 and older for amusement purposes only and does not offer ‘real money’ gambling, or an opportunity to win real money or real prizes based on game play. Playing or success in this game does not imply future success at ‘real money’ gambling.
Is WPT available in Canada?
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WPT Global is proud to provide players in Canada with the opportunity to play their favourite poker cash games through their site.Apr 29, 2024
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