World Poker Tour Launches Events Division for WPT-Branded Poker Affairs

6 February 2006

(Press Release)- If your company is looking for a way to make its next company retreat or sales meeting fun, compelling and interactive, there's a great new option on the horizon -- hosting an "official" WORLD POKER TOUR(R)-themed tournament or customized event. WPT Enterprises (WPTE) announced today the launch of its new Events Division, designed to offer corporations, meeting planners, charitable organizations and others the most flawlessly executed, premiere poker events in the country.

"We plan to leverage the emotion, power, and appeal of the WPT brand to help create and implement custom-made programs that are impeccably executed to meet our customers' marketing and business objectives," said Steve Lipscomb, CEO and founder of WPTE. "We have added two key members to our team that we believe will elevate this division to one of the most visible and strategically powerful tools in our global growth."

Linda Spitz, a leading marketing executive in the media business, and Kim Ellis, a highly respected event planner, will join WPTE as Vice-Presidents of Events. Spitz, was a Senior Vice President for Clear Channel, where she led a team that planned, sold, and executed cross-platform strategies for corporations interested in increasing brand visibility through radio, television, interactive, outdoor, and entertainment properties. Previously, she served with a number of companies that merged into Clear Channel, including Katz Marketing Dimensions, Republic Radio Sales and RKO.

Her counterpart, Ellis is the owner of preeminent meeting and event company, KEE Meetings & Events specializing in corporate sales meetings, product launches and golf events. She served with Hyatt Hotels for more 20 years, and left as Divisional Director of Catering for the company.

"We believe we are the perfect fit to establish this division," said Spitz. "Kim and I have been colleagues for more than twenty years. Our combined experience and backgrounds in event planning, media, sales management, and operations make us so perfectly suited for this undertaking."

WPT Events will help design special programs for corporations, meeting planners, and charitable organizations for entertainment purposes only -- not for actual gaming. Some of the ways customers will be able to incorporate the WORLD POKER TOUR into their events are for sales meetings, product launches, vendor programs, incentive programs and client parties. WORLD POKER TOUR branded events will have unique and proprietary offerings that are not currently available in the poker event space, according to Spitz.

"We believe that great business skills and great poker skills have much in common; learning how to read your opponent, bluffing, risk assessment," said Ellis. "Our events will be a welcome enhancement to corporate meetings because they can truly be turned into a teambuilding activity that everyone can learn to play, have fun doing, and be educational. We want to bring the excitement of the WORLD POKER TOUR Final Table right to your corporate event."

Inquiries about WPT Events can be addressed to Spitz and Ellis at events@worldpokertour.com or by phone at 888-WPT-1001. For more information go to: www.worldpokertour.com/events.

"We believe that every time the WORLD POKER TOUR brand touches a consumer or customer, it should positively reinforce the message that the WPT is the gold standard in poker," said WPTE CEO Lipscomb. "From our branded chips and cards to the quality of our tables to the expertise of our event personnel, all the way to a chocolate poker chip on a player's pillow at night, our events will be of the highest quality. We strongly believe this standard of excellence will make us the first choice in the poker event arena."

The WPT launched the poker phenomenon when it first aired on the Travel Channel on March 30, 2003, and it continues to lead the way in developing poker as a major international sport. Viewers and aspiring tour players can log on to www.worldpokertour.com for ways to improve their game and to get the latest WPT schedules, information and merchandise. The highest rated show ever on The Travel Channel, the WPT is now seen in more than 120 countries and territories worldwide. WORLD POKER TOUR(R) airs every Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the Travel Channel.

OPN Staff

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