New Locations in Store for WPT Season Six
This week, the World Poker Tour officially released its schedule for the sixth season of its programming. The WPT will debut in style on GSN, The Network for Games, with 19 regular tournaments in casinos across the globe. Several other special tournaments, such as “Poker by the Book” and “Bad Boys of Poker,” will be announced in the future. The sixth season calls for several brand new stops, including The Players’ Club at Club Med in the Turks & Caicos Islands, Casino Barcelona in Spain, and Biloxi’s Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino.
Coming on the heels of Carlos “The Matador” Mortensen’s come from behind win at the WPT Championship last month, the WPT is set to visit Mortensen’s stomping grounds in Barcelona, Spain for the WPT Spanish Championship on October 12-16. Cronin comments on the new international event: “We’re kicking off a new season and it’s great to have some new locations, particularly Barcelona. Carlos Mortensen is now the WPT champion and we’re going to Spain. It was just luck that the WPT planned Barcelona.” Also new is The Players’ Club at Club Med in the Turks and Caicos Islands on September 25-30. The poker room at The Players’ Club spreads all levels of a variety of games each day, so this Caribbean destination is ideal for the WPT. According to Cronin, “These are some of the best casinos in the world.”
GSN was just informed of the WPT schedule and Cronin was elated to see some of the new stops: “It was a very pleasant surprise. We met with WPT officials last week in Los Angeles and they told us about the new schedule and I thought it was perfect.” Cronin just returned from the National Cable Television Association convention in Las Vegas and received extremely positive feedback about his network’s acquisition of WPT programming: “They were thrilled. The feedback was that the WPT made more sense on GSN than on The Travel Channel. They were aware we were doing well with High Stakes Poker and the World Series of Blackjack.”
In several markets, GSN is only available as part of an expanded cable service. This was also the case when The Travel Channel originally aired WPT programming several years ago and demand for expansion of the network onto basic cable increased dramatically: “We think that, as we get closer to the launch of the WPT on GSN, poker players who don’t have our channel on basic cable will call. Cable operators are very responsive to what their subscribers want. I would encourage all poker fans to call in and request GSN programming if you don’t already have it on basic cable.”
Here is a full rundown of the sixth season of the WPT. These dates are, as always, subject to change:
The Mirage Poker Showdown
The MirageLas Vegas, NV
May 19 – 23, 2007
Final Table: May 23
Mandalay Bay Poker Championship
Mandalay BayLas Vegas, NV
May 29 – June 2, 2007
Final Table: June 2
Bellagio Cup III
Bellagio Las Vegas, NV
July 10 -15, 2007
Final Table: July15
Legends of Poker
The Bicycle Casino Los Angeles, CA
August 25 – 30, 2007
Final Table: August 30
WPT Ladies Night V
The Bicycle Casino Los Angeles, CA
August 18, 2007
Final Table: August 31
Gulf Coast Poker Championship
Beau Rivage Biloxi, MS
September 6 -9, 2007
Final Table: September 9
Borgata Poker Open
Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa Atlantic City, NJ
September 16 – 20, 2007
Final Table: September 20
Turks & Caicos Poker Classic
The Players’ Club, Club Med, Turks & Caicos
September 25 – 30, 2007
Final Table: September 30
WPT Spanish Championship
Casino Barcelona Barcelona, Spain
October 12 – 16, 2007
Final Table Oct. 16
North American Poker Championship
Niagara Fallsview Resort Casino Niagara Falls, Canada
October 26 – Nov 2, 2007
Final Table: November 2
World Poker Finals
Foxwoods Resort Casino Mashantucket, CT
November 8 – 13, 2007
Final Table: November 13
Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic
BellagioLas Vegas, NV
December 13 – 18, 2007
Final Table: December 18
World Poker Open
Gold Strike Tunica, MS
January 20-23, 2008
Final Table: January 23
Borgata Poker Classic
Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa Atlantic City, NJ
January 26 – 30, 2008
Final Table: January 30
L.A. Poker Classic
Commerce Casino Los Angeles, CA
February 23 – 28, 2008
Final Table: February 28
WPT Celebrity Invitational
Commerce Casino Los Angeles, CA
March 1 – 3, 2008
Final Table: March 3
Bay 101 Shooting Star
Bay 101 San Jose, CA
March 10 – 14, 2008
Final Table: March 14
World Poker Challenge
Grand Sierra Resort Casino Reno, NV
March 25 – 28, 2008
Final Table: March 28
Foxwoods Poker Classic
Foxwoods Resort Casino Mashantucket, CT
April 4 – 9, 2008
Final Table: April 9
WPT World Championship
Bellagio Las Vegas, NV
April 19 – 25, 2008
Final Table: April 25
All told, the sixth season will provide a re-birth for the WPT. According to Cronin, “The GSN and WPT teams have already started doing some great strategic planning. They are a fantastic team and we look forward to working with them.” We look forward to success from PocketFivers during the coming season of the WPT.
