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Monday, Aug. 6, 2007

World Poker Tour Plans Poker Tournaments in China

WPT signs five-year agreement to move into China

By Martin Östman

Poker has truly become a world-wide phenomenon. Today, tournament poker reaches China when World Poker Tour Enterprises Inc. (the parent company of the World Poker Tour) signs an agreement with China Leisure Sports Administrative Center.

"The partnership will promote the sport of poker, by helping to create, expand and commercialize China's first ever national poker competition," said World Poker Tour Enterprises in a press statement.

World Poker Tour Enterprises doesn't give any details on when the tournaments are being held, but the agreement says the partnership will run for at least five years.

Recently, WPTE also secured the right to broadcast the first two seasons of the WPT in the region when signing with Macau Cable (Macau is a special administrative region in south China) and MediaCorp in Singapore. Thanks to this, WPTE is entering a market with more than two billion people.

There are, however, still a few obstacles to overcome. The communist government of China strictly forbids all forms of gambling. Gambling is categorized as a criminal act and an anti-social behavior just as drug use and prostitution.