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A Winning Pair: Celebrity Poker Aces and Top Pros
Published: 2006-02-16
 What kind of event could attract such diverse
celebrities as Burt Reynolds, James Woods, Ray Romano, Jason Alexander, Mimi Rogers, Stephen Collins, Jennifer Tilly, Sara Rue, James Garner, Kevin Weisman, David Sutcliffe, Lou Diamond Phillips, John Schneider, Anne Heche, Ron Livingston, Adrian Young, Gavin Maloof, Jeremy Sisto, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Joshua Morrow, Rick Fox, Christopher Rich, and Cindy Margolis, the most downloaded woman on the internet? The World Poker Tour Invitational™, of course!
The most sought after ticket in poker.
The event at Commerce Casino, televised annually on the Travel Channel, draws more than 75 celebrities, competing against 200 of the leading players in the game—including many of the poker millionaires created by the WORLD POKER TOUR’S® $150-million in prize pools over the past four years.
This is where you’ll see T.J. Cloutier, Phil
Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren and Phil 'The Unabomber' Laak go head-to-head with the biggest names in television and film for a piece of a $200,000 prize pool and a $25,000 seat in the WPT World Championship™ at Bellagio in April. The last celebrity to exit the tourney will also earn $10,000 for his or her favorite charity.
This year’s WPT Invitational is slated for February 22-23, with the Final Table on February 24.
Last year, stage and screen actor Tom Everett Scott became the first celebrity to make
the final six, finishing third in the event and pocketing $25,000. The winner was Costa
Rican poker star Alex Brenes. In 2003, Laak, 'The Unabomber,' took home the title after
an animated performance that included pushups and shadow boxing with his tablemates.
Celebrity players in previous years have also included Ben Affleck, Tobey Maguire, Don
Cheadle, Ed Asner, Jon Favreau, Sharon Lawrence, Norm MacDonald, Dean Cain, Camryn Manheim, Hill Harper, Richard Karn, Krista Allen, Macaulay Culkin, Laura Prepon, Sarah Gilbert, Willie Garson and Lolita Davidovich. Many more are expected to join the rush to the green felt as the days get closer to the start of the event.
This year’s celebrities have an additional year’s worth of practice under their belts and new tips
gleaned from the WORLD POKER TOUR shows.
'The WORLD POKER TOUR is all about letting people live their dreams and celebrities are no different. They all want to be the one counting the money at the Final Table,' said
Steve Lipscomb, CEO and Founder of WPT Enterprises.
'We’ve made the WPT Invitational, already the most prestigious poker tournament in
Hollywood, even better this year by adding an extra day and starting it at night, enabling
more celebrities to come after they have completed their filming schedules for the day.
We anticipate a blockbuster event!'
Fans may view the Final Table on February 24, with seating available on a first-come, firstserve
basis. The tournament will begin at 5 p.m. but it is suggested that that fans arrive
by 3 p.m. to ensure a spot.
The Commerce Casino, the country’s largest poker room, is located at 6131 East Telegraph Road in Commerce, just five minutes from downtown
Los Angeles off the Washington exit of the 5 Freeway.
The WORLD POKER TOUR is the global leader in poker. The WPT introduced poker to a worldwide audience through its innovative and riveting brand of televised poker, now seen in more than 130 countries and territories. Capturing all the excitement and sizzling action at its 17 Tour stops around the globe, the shows sets the gold standard in poker programming. The WPT inspired a global poker phenomenon that has attracted millions of men and women to the game and legions of devoted followers to the poker lifestyle. It
has transformed poker into the sport of choice for vast numbers of viewers and players,
and the hundreds of millions of dollars of prize money on the WPT has rekindled the promise of 'The New American Dream.'
The WORLD POKER TOUR airs on the Travel Channel, every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET/PT in the U.S. For more information, go to ww.worldpokertour.com.
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PartyPoker.com Launches New Poker Platform
Published: 2006-02-16
 Not Just a Pretty Face, New Look Is Packed With Options
by Bob Pajich
PartyPoker.com has a surprise for its players today.
The popular online site released a new version of its poker platform and it's not just a pretty face. The new platform is packed with features that are sure to please both the leather-butt grinder and the casual poker fan alike.
The biggest change is perhaps the new game filtering system. Intergrated in the lobby are several filtering devices that allow players to more easily find the types of games they are looking for with a simple click of the mouse. The same organizational tree-style listing of games under their appropriate tabs is still incorporated, but now players can filter out the games they don’t want to see.
For example, with a click of the mouse, tournament players can remove the list of cash games from the lobby, and vice versa, which makes the lobby much less crowded.
Cash players will notice that the no-limit and pot-limit games are no longer listed by maximum buy-in. Now, they are listed by the sizes of the blinds.
The cash tables also now bear names like “Gotta Go,” “Top Rod,” and “Polka.”
The list of available cash games is now more organized in that players will not have to scroll through sometimes hundreds of tables to find an open seat in the game they are looking for. Tabs are now included that organize the games swiftly.
For example, players looking to sit at a six-player maximum table no longer have to scroll through all the tables looking for that distinction. Now they only have to click the “Player” tab at the top to have all the six-player tables pop to the top of the list.
Those who habitually play more than one table will love this next feature: Players can now resize the tables so that four can fit onto the screen.
Another new feature is that players now can see who is sitting at the tables with having to open the table. That information now appears in a box in the lobby. Click the “Seated Players” tab and the box shows which players are seated, where they are seated, and how much money each has. Click the “Game Info” tab to find out average pot size and the average number of hands per hour; the latter indicates approximately how fast the table is playing. It also defines what game is being spread, the name of the table and other information, such as blind amounts.
A “My Favorites” button allows players to even further narrow the list of the games they like. By right-clicking on the type of game, players can add it to their favorites.
The tournament lists have also changed. PartyPoker.com added a tournament filter list that allows players to whittle down the list of tournaments.
Also, gone is the old way of listing buy-in costs for both single- and multi-table tournaments. Instead of divulging the tournament fee separately, one price is listed. Players who want to play in a $10 + $1 single-table tournaments now will find the “$11” tab under “1-table” that is listed under the “Sit & Go” tab, for example.
The amount of money a player has available is now displayed right in the lobby. A dollar sign in the corner of the page replaces the cashier button.
Because there are so many new features and information offered on the new platform, PartyPoker’s website features an animated tour that highlights the new additions.
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