17 February 2005 - Not one to rest on its laurels after having been credited for bringing poker to nationwide television in the United States, the World Poker Tour (WPT) has embarked on a new mission to bring America's most popular card game, this time, to video gaming. WPT, presently the most watched television program dedicated to poker, recently signed a deal with a video game publisher, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., for the development of poker video games.
The World Poker Tour is the highest rated series in the history of the Travel Channel, where it airs on Wednesday nights at 9 pm ET/PT. The WPT weekly television series, along with cable television sports network ESPN, has been at the forefront of industry efforts to grow the card game's popularity, helping significantly to make poker one of the hottest sports trends to emerge in the US in recent years.
Working quickly to expand its sports business, Take-Two Interactive Software seized the opportunity to forge a valuable partnership with the World Poker Tour. According to the video game publisher, poker games for consoles as well as handheld and PC formats were under development at two studios for Take-Two's new 2K Sports division, which is part of the 2K Games publishing label.
The deal between WPT and Take-Two fast triggered a similar move by other companies, manifesting a possible trend in poker video games. Electronic Arts Inc., which is Take-Two Interactive Software's primary sports competitor, recently signed a 15-year licensing deal with ESPN and has stated that it is exploring the possibility of a poker video game in conjunction with that license.
The World Poker Tour is presently on its third season, which has an anticipated prize pool of US$70 million. The 16-tournament Season Three's total prize pool has already topped the $30 million mark at $33,919,170, which is a $14,602,274 increase over WPT Season Two stops to date. WPT Season Three kicked off with the event Grand Prix de Paris on July 17 to 20, 2004, at the Aviation Club de France in Paris, and will culminate with the WPT World Championship at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18 to 24, 2005.
In the last few months, Take-Two Interactive Software acquired sports studios Visual Concepts, Indie Built, and Venom, and now has a full range of sports games in development.
The World Poker Tour is operated by WPT Enterprises Inc.
Online Poker 
