World Poker Tour to sign agreement with China despite country's gambling ban
BEIJING: Tournament poker is coming to China — where the card game has been gaining popularity since it was declared a sport five years ago.
World Poker Tour Enterprises Inc. signed an agreement on Monday with the China Leisure Sports Administrative Center to promote "the sport of poker, by helping to create, expand and commercialize China's first ever national poker competition."
A statement from WPT said the partnership agreement would run for five years, with an option to extend. Additional details weren't given and it wasn't clear what stakes participants would play for.
Interest in poker has exploded in the United States in the past few years with the advent of televised tournaments such as the WPT and the World Series of Poker. Los Angeles, California-based WPT Enterprises Inc. signed a licensing deal earlier this year with Game Show Network LLC for the sixth season of its World Poker Tour television series.
The game, called Traktor Poker in the U.S. and Tua La Ji in China, was declared a sport in China in 2002.
There will be no betting on the game in China where the Communist Party has banned all forms of gambling, categorizing it as a form of criminal, anti-social behavior along the lines of prostitution and drug use.
Former lawyer Steve Lipscomb, WPT's founder, president and CEO, attended the signing ceremony at a Beijing hotel on Monday.
BEIJING: Tournament poker is coming to China — where the card game has been gaining popularity since it was declared a sport five years ago.
World Poker Tour Enterprises Inc. signed an agreement on Monday with the China Leisure Sports Administrative Center to promote "the sport of poker, by helping to create, expand and commercialize China's first ever national poker competition."
A statement from WPT said the partnership agreement would run for five years, with an option to extend. Additional details weren't given and it wasn't clear what stakes participants would play for.
Interest in poker has exploded in the United States in the past few years with the advent of televised tournaments such as the WPT and the World Series of Poker. Los Angeles, California-based WPT Enterprises Inc. signed a licensing deal earlier this year with Game Show Network LLC for the sixth season of its World Poker Tour television series.
The game, called Traktor Poker in the U.S. and Tua La Ji in China, was declared a sport in China in 2002.
There will be no betting on the game in China where the Communist Party has banned all forms of gambling, categorizing it as a form of criminal, anti-social behavior along the lines of prostitution and drug use.
Former lawyer Steve Lipscomb, WPT's founder, president and CEO, attended the signing ceremony at a Beijing hotel on Monday.