Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007

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World Poker Store opens operations in China

By Sarah Polson

The latest company to start making inroads into the Asian poker market is the World Poker Store, a Nevada company with corporate offices in St. Paul, Minn.

The World Poker Store announced this week that it had formed a wholly owned subsidiary called Shenzhen WPS Entertainment Development Co. Ltd. (SWEDCL) with offices in Shenzhen, China, to bring the full Las Vegas experience to China.

The Shenzhen branch of the company will use upscale executive entertainment centers to offer affluent Chinese and international clients the opportunity to enjoy world-class hospitality, Vegas-style shows, VIP amenities and live, freeroll Texas Hold'em tournaments.

SWEDCL has also entered into an agreement with the Luneng Group to co-develop an entertainment center as part of the Luneng Sanya Bay development. The development is located in the city of Sanya on Hainan Island, known as "the Hawaii of the East."

The development is a 2.5-square-mile project that will feature a marina, golf course, villas, hotel, condominiums and an entertainment district.

SWEDCL will be the proprietor of a 25,000-square-foot anchor facility for the entertainment district. As such it will also act as a consultant for the project and assist in acquiring other retail, restaurant and nightclub participants.

Luneng Group is the fifth-largest real estate developer in China. It owns and operates hotels and properties around the country. Adding to its deal with Luneng, SWEDCL is also in negotiations with multiple cities to open additional entertainment centers throughout China.

The World Poker Store, with offices in St. Paul, Minn.; Fort Myers, Fla.; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and now Shenzhen, brings free Texas Hold'em games to people around the world. The company currently runs hundreds of live tournaments per week.

The WPS also boasts the support of an advisory board of world-class poker players including Marcel Luske, Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Patrik Antonius, Hoyt Corkins and Liz Lieu.

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• Top Pros to Advise World Poker Store
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