Talk of Possible Sell Out for WPT

Poker News - July 17, 2009 - Written by Bonnie

With the final days of the 2009 WSOP coming to an end, we anxiously await the return of the final nine players in November. This tournament not only stirred up the Vegas Scene, poker is creating quite a buzz in the financial world as well. The Wall Street Journal recently released an article pertaining to the talk of the WPT being for sale. The article " Deal Me In" written by staff writer Brett Arends, questions whether there is serious thought behind the indications that the World Poker Tour will be up for grabs. In conversation with WTP Enterprises Chief Financial Officer Tom Flahie, Arends quotes him as saying, " We can't comment...beyond saying we've provided confidential data to third parties". When Founder and Chief Officer Steve Lipsomb was reached and asked if he had a statement to make, he responded with, " We've discussed with and exchanged documents with some companies that have expressed interest".

In the article, Arends points out that in seven years running, the WPT may not of been very profitable, it certainly has taken poker to unforeseen heights. While the tour can be very beneficial for players reaching in the millions of dollars handed out throughout the series, the WPT has lost quite a bit of money since the beginning. When reaching a high in the stock market at $26 a share, a failed buyout attempt by Doyle Bronson resulted in a collapse of the WPT Enterprise stock, dropping each share down to less than $1. As we stand today, WPT Enterprises stock is listed at $1.36 per share.

The question being raised at this point is, who is suited to take charge of the WPT. It is no surprise that we will see many sports books and poker rooms such as bwin, take interest. Poker Stars and Full Tilt, both major sponsors for the WPT, have also come up in discussion as to possible candidates for taking over the WPT.