North American Poker Tour looks to go International

As the poker land grab continues, both established and fledgling poker organizations and big business are jockeying for position, and everyone wants a slice of the action. The latest corporate-style re-branding involves the North American Poker Tour.

The North American Poker Tour will kick-start its new incarnation as the International Poker Association with a large event to be held in Hollywood USA in May 2006.

Both organizations will now be run by NAPP Tour Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of venture capitalist Hansen Gray & Company, Inc., with NAPP Tour Inc staging the tournaments and event managing the whole process.

The new event will be geared towards professional players with limited qualification opportunities. The aim is to provide competition for elite players, in a formalized setting, that will elevate poker towards its stated ambition to be considered a legitimate sport.

“No one’s done an International tour with the best players, so this is a first,” explains Will Waldrop, chairman and CEO of NAPP Tour, Inc., who founded the Tour with fellow poker enthusiast Wade Mezey and poker tournament director Matt Savage, who has worked on over 200 televised poker shows worldwide including the World Series of Poker.

“While there have been other televised poker events, pretty much anyone can buy their way in without regard for their standing as a player. We recognized the sports nature of poker and the need to give it sports stature by putting its best players on the road in an exciting series of events.”

Waldrop continued: “We felt that the former name was too limiting in the goals of our Tour and that the new name will allow for more international involvement,”

The event is scheduled for May 8-20 at the Hollywood Park-Casino and will feature a number of tournament events culminating with a guaranteed $2,000,000 Prize Pool No-Limit Hold-em Championship Event.

The art deco styled Hollywood Park-Casino opened in 1994 and was America’s first Casino to be situated at a racetrack.

Main events will build up toward a multi-million dollar championship, and the Tour is currently finalizing its agreements with sponsors and a broadcast partner, fulfilling its intention to televise each event.

The big players are onboard with Annie Duke, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Mike Matusow, Layne Flack and actress/poker champ Jennifer Tilly, among dozens of other top players all signed up.

Although the desire is to promote the organisation’s international standing, no overseas dates have been announced yet, so it’s a case of watch this space as we wait to see how truly international this outfit will become.