The World Poker Tour, we’ve all heard about it somewhere in our lives but just what is it and why is everybody talking about it? The World Poker Tour is an accumulation of tournaments of the ever popular poker game variant Texas hold em and was first established in the later months of the year in spring 2003; the World Poker Tour was aired for the first time and was broadcast on American cable television.
The Basics
The World Poker Tour is held internationally but it is predominately in the United States of America. The game of poker attracts many players worldwide, some of whom are playing purely for financial gain, some playing for the experience and some playing for fame.
Live to air
With the airing of the poker tour by television networks, the game of poker was beamed onto television sets of homes and businesses alike all over the world. It was this exposure that saw a dramatic increase in the popularity of casino, home and online poker games. The tournaments were aired live into homes and businesses around the globe.
Just a comment
Many people would praise such speedy and accurate commentary and at the same time wonder how commentators and hosts Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten are able to provide such good commentary throughout the game without resorting to inaudible whispering and without letting players know what one another has and inadvertently ruining a players hand. Do they use a sound proof booth? No. The answer is rather simple. The commentary made about the players is not recorded until the tournament is already finished as gaming regulations bar the act of observing live feeds of the hole card cameras whilst located on set. The audio which we hear is a compilation of live comments and post production recordings.
Entry
Entry is available to any person who is able to afford the buy-in which is usually an amount in the range of $2,500 to $25,000 or are named as the winner of a satellite tournament.
Walk of Fame
The World Poker tour also created a walk of fame in the year 2004. This walk of fame was introduced as a means to honour and recognise not only the poker greats for their achievements at the highest levels of the table game but also the people whose contributions to the world poker tour who are not so well known. These are people such as actors and others who have helped to promote the games popularity by the means of media avenues such as television, films and literature. The first inductees into The World Poker Tour walk of fame were poker greats Doyle Brunson and Gus Hansen and actor James Garner.
A must
For any aspiring poker great, The World Poker Tour event is a must see whether live in person or on television and is a great goal to set yourself. Some online poker websites actually have professional poker players who play on a regular basis so if you want to test your skills and see what you would be up against in a world tournament it would be an ideal way to do so.
