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PlayFirst Goes All in With Poker Pop(TM): Five-Card Fun With a Fresh New Face
Published: 2006-04-26
 The World's First Ultra-Casual Poker Game!
SAN FRANCISCO, April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- PlayFirst, the leading full- service publisher of casual games, introduces a new twist on poker with Poker Pop(TM), a tile matching game that gives card-game enthusiasts a tile-turning, around-the-world escape. Developed by Say Design and published by PlayFirst, Poker Pop is poised to appeal to casual gamers and experienced poker players alike.
"At PlayFirst we're focused on new ideas in interactive entertainment," said Kenny Dinkin, vice president and executive producer, PlayFirst. "Poker Pop fuses the simple charms of tile matching with the compelling fun of good old-fashioned poker. It teaches the novice with a great tutorial, while challenging the expert with all kinds of perils and strategic choices. With its fresh gameplay and around-the-world theme, Poker Pop is an innovative blend of casual gaming and poker playing fun."
In Poker Pop, players embark on a global journey and must play winning card combinations in order to advance across the continents, gain powerups, avoid perils, collect souvenirs and send postcards home. Learning Poker Pop is easy; players simply match tiles to create poker hands. With each hand, players encounter the people and music of different countries such as Australia, Fiji and Japan. As players pop around the globe, they learn poker by matching tiles. With three modes -- Tour, Challenge and Arcade -- there is plenty of room for strategy and skill.
Now available on PlayFirst.com, Poker Pop is free to try for 60 minutes or purchase for $19.95. For more information about Poker Pop, please visit http://www.playfirst.com/game/pokerpop .
About PlayFirst, Inc.
PlayFirst is the leading publisher of highly-original games made for casual gamers wherever they play. Committed to fostering creativity, PlayFirst works with talented internal and external developers to bring innovative games to multiple platforms, including PC, Mac and mobile. PlayFirst's portfolio of games includes the record-breaking hit Diner Dash(TM) which has more than 100 million plays worldwide. Founded in 2004, PlayFirst is funded by Mayfield Fund, Trinity Ventures and Rustic Canyon Partners. For more information visit http://www.playfirst.com .
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Davidson Matthew Turns $25 Satellite Buy-In Into $1.9 Million Second Place
Published: 2006-04-25
 LOS ANGELES, April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2006 WPT World
Championship(TM) will be remembered in a string of superlatives -- the
most, biggest and first! When Joe Bartholdi, of Las Vegas, defeated the
brightest poker talent from nearly 40 countries, he did so in a tournament
that is going to be talked about for years. The finale to the WORLD POKER
TOUR(R)'s Season IV drew a record-breaking 605 entrants, generated the
highest ever WPT prize pool of more than $15 million, and for the first
time in WPT history, awarded more than a million dollars to a player that
qualified on a $25 satellite! Bartholdi pockets a coveted first prize of
$3.76 million, the enviable title of WPT World Champion and a seat in the
2007 WPT World Championship at Bellagio.
The WPT World Championship is the jewel atop the crown of the WPT's
fourth season. Its $15 million purse brings the total prize money for the
17 Season IV tournaments to a staggering $85+ million. The riveting shows,
currently airing on the Travel Channel every Wednesday night at 9 p.m.
ET/PT, have revealed the 20 newest WPT Poker Millionaires. After the WPT
World Championship that number rises to 23 as the tournament paid more than
$3 million to first place, nearly $2 million to second place and $1 million
to third place.
"This tournament captures the dream and the reason we created the WORLD
POKER TOUR," says Steve Lipscomb, Founder and CEO of WPT Enterprises, Inc.
(Nasdaq: WPTE). "The Championship is an open event where anyone with the
drive and courage to enter can test his or her skills against the best
players in the world. This Final Table match-up will absolutely fuel the
poker fantasies of millions of players. We congratulate Joe and welcome him
to our family of WPT Champions."
Champion Joe Bartholdi was cheered on by a sizable hometown crowd. His
post-tournament plans include taking his cheering section out to "celebrate
for a while," and once the party ends he intends go out and "buy a house."
His friends were also heard to be talking about a Bartholdi-funded trip to
the Caribbean. Money is no object for the newest WPT Millionaire.
Second place finisher, Davidson Matthew of Toronto, Canada, enthused,
"This tournament has turned me from an amateur to a professional. It's set
me up to play poker. Now if I lose, financially, it just doesn't matter."
To put his accomplishment in perspective -- his $25 spent on a satellite
buy-in to cash over $1.9 million puts his winnings at $76,000+ for every
dollar spent -- now that's good investment!
Roland De Wolfe, of London, England, was the only previous WPT winner
(Grand Prix de Paris, Season IV) to make the Final Table. De Wolfe also
joins the ranks of WPT Millionaires as his third place finish awarded him
$1,025,205. Claus Nielson of Las Vegas finished in fourth and cashed
$659,120. Fifth place, with an award of $439,375, was given to James Van
Alstyne also of Las Vegas. Sixth place and $292,915 goes to the legendary
Men "the Master" Nguyen of Bell Gardens, California.
This tournament marked the closest yet that a woman has come to making
the Final Table of the WPT World Championship. Vanessa Russo of Miami, FL,
finished "on the bubble" -- seventh -- but took home to the "Sunshine
State" a consoling $263,625.
The $25,500 buy-in tournament at Las Vegas' Bellagio proved to be a
lure to marquee players from all around the globe. Among those who took to
the felt for the WPT World Championship were defending champion Tuan Le and
Alan Goehring, plus T.J. Cloutier, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Doyle
Brunson, Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, Jennifer Harman, Daniel
Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen, Erick Lindgren, David Williams, Allen Cunningham,
Men "The Master" Nguyen, Phil Ivey, Kathy Liebert, Chip Jett, Ted Forrest,
Gavin Smith, Barry Greenstein, Paul Darden, Nick Schulman, Freddy Deeb,
Jennifer Tilly, Michael Gracz, John D'Agostino, Hasan Habib, Scott Fischman
and James Woods.
The international contingent also included Martin DeKniff, Paul
Maxfield, Gus Hansen, David Benyamine, Juha Helppi, Chris Bigler, Humberto
Brenes, Juan Carlos Mortensen, Johan Storakers, Marcel Luske, David
"Devilfish" Ulliot, John Gale and Patrik Antonius, among others.
The 2006 WPT World Championship will bring the excitement
coast-to-coast when it airs on the Travel Channel on Wednesday, June 28th
at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
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 147 countries and territories.
Capturing all the excitement and sizzling action at its 17 Tour stops
around the globe, the show 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 have 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. and on ITV4 in the U.K. For more
information, go to http://www.worldpokertour.com.
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