World Poker Tour Season Seven To Film Only 14 Events For TV

Card Player is reporting that the World Poker Tour will film 14 events for season seven, down from 20 in season six. All of them will be in North America. There had previously been rumors that WPTE would drop just two of the least popular WPT events. The events that won't be returning are Mirage Poker Showdown, Mandalay Bay Poker Championship, Ladies Night invitational, Turks and Caicos Poker Classic, WPT Spanish Championship, and World Poker Challenge. Some excerpts from the Card Player article:

“Well, I can say that mostly what went into that decision has lots to do with the market. Players let us know [where they prefer to play] verbally, and they also vote with their tournament dollars,” Lipscomb said. “I think we’re trying to be mindful of places that people really want to go, where they want to play, and the properties that really have the resources and the dedication to be able to grow substantial events over time.”

Even though WPTE has scaled back its production schedule for next season, Lipscomb gave a hint of what international poker fans may soon see from the WPTE. Lipscomb says that locally-grown programming does better in certain parts of the world and WPTE is in discussions to develop locally-based events for regional broadcast. Because of the competitive poker market, Lipscomb wouldn’t say where those talks are taking place, but it’s something WPTE expects to tackle in the near future.

The move to GSN from the Travel Channel has both its positives and minuses, the biggest minus being that GSN reaches 26 million fewer subscribers than the Travel Channel. Lipscomb shrugs at the figure. He says GSN has about the same number of viewers that the Travel Channel did when the WPT first was aired there at the end of 2004. He feels confident that WPTE will help grow GSN just as it did for the Travel Channel.

The WPT season seven schedule follows:

* Bellagio Cup IV — Bellagio, Las Vegas — July 11- 17
* Legends of Poker — The Bicycle Casino, Los Angeles — Aug. 23-28
* Borgata Poker Open — Borgata, Atlantic City — Sept. 14-18
* North American Poker Championship — Fallsview Resort Casino, Niagara Falls, Canada — Oct. 10-16
* Festa Al Lago — Bellagio, Las Vegas — Oct. 20-25
* World Poker Finals — Foxwoods, Mashantucket, Connecticut — Nov. 5-11
* Doyle Brunson Five-Diamond World Poker Classic — Bellagio, Las Vegas — Dec. 13-19
* Gulf Coast Poker Championship — Beau Rivage, Biloxi, Mississippi — Jan. 16-19, 2009
* Borgata Poker Classic — Borgata, Atlantic City — Jan. 25-29, 2009
* L.A. Poker Classic — Commerce Casino, Los Angeles — Feb. 28-March 5, 2009
* WPT Celebrity Invitational — Commerce Casino, Los Angeles — March 7-9, 2009
* Bay 101 Shooting Star — Bay 101, San Jose — March 16-20
* Foxwoods Poker Classic — Foxwoods — April 4-9
* WPT World Championship — Bellagio, Las Vegas — April 18-25