LOS ANGELES, May 05, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----WPT Canada(TM) (WPTC) tour kicks off today with its first stop--Coast to Coast Poker Championships, presented by British Columbia Lottery Corporation--at River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia. WPTC is the dedicated tour for Canada, a country where some of the world's greatest poker professionals call home and poker is booming in best-in-class casino properties nationwide.

"Canada is an incredible destination for poker, which we have experienced first-hand during three successful Canadian events on the main WPT tour," said Steve Lipscomb, WPT Founder, President and CEO. "The sport of poker has long been growing in Canada, fostering poker fans and creating world-class poker professionals. It was only a matter of time before WPT offered a tailored tour unique to Canadian poker fans, and couldn't be more thrilled to finally launch it today."

Held May 5 - 13, 2008, the event features multiple tournament options including a super satellite, bounty event, and a $3,000 CDN main event where players will face pros like Gavin Smith, WPT Season IV Player of the Year; "Yukon" Brad Booth; and Canadian Poker Tour Player of the Year Jody Trainer. Antonio Esfandiari, face of the WPT Poker-Made Millionaire(TM) will also play in the bounty and main events, representing www.worldpokertour.com. Esfandiari recently placed eighth out of 842 players at the European Poker Tour Grand Finals in Monte Carlo.

The Coast to Coast Poker Championships schedule is as follows:

 May
   5th @ Noon $500 ($460+$40) No Limit Texas Hold'em --------------------------- ------------------------------------------ May
   6th @ Noon $220 ($200+$20) Super Satellite; Awards one $4,000 package for every 20 entries --------------------------- ------------------------------------------
   May 7th & 8th @ Noon $1,000 ($920+$80) No Limit Texas Hold'em Final Table May 11th @ 1pm with Bounties ---------------------------
   ------------------------------------------ May 9th & 10th @ Noon $3,000 ($2,800+$200) No Limit Texas Final Table May 11th
   @ 6pm Hold'em MAIN EVENT --------------------------- ------------------------------------------ May 11th, 2008 @ Noon $200
   ($125+$15+$60) Mother's Day No Limit Texas Hold'em and Brunch --------------------------- ------------------------------------------
   May 12th, 2008 @ Noon $300 ($270+$30) Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha --------------------------- ------------------------------------------
   May 13th, 2008 @ Noon $300 ($270+$30) No Limit Texas Hold'em 

The May 11 Coast to Coast Poker Championships final tables will play down on the WPT Canada set and will be filmed for television broadcast in Canada. Poker pro Kenna James will make his WPT Canada debut as TV commentator alongside host and well-known Canadian sports announcer, Jim Van Horne. The WPT Canada Coast to Coast Poker Championships television episodes will debut in Canada late this summer.

The public, age 19 and older, are invited to watch the tournament events and final tables free of charge. To play, register in-person at River Rock Casino Resort or call 604-247-8983. Visit www.wptcanada.net or www.bclc.com for more event details.

About WPTE

WPT Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:WPTE) is a company engaged in the creation of internationally branded entertainment and consumer products driven by the development, production, and marketing of televised programming based on gaming themes. WPTE is the creator of the World Poker Tour(R), a television show based on a series of high-stakes poker tournaments that airs Monday nights at 9pm ET/PT on GSN in the United States, and has been licensed for broadcast globally. WPTE also offers real-money online gaming on its website, www.worldpokertour.com, which prohibits wagers from players in the U.S. and certain other restricted territories. WPTE also has operations in mainland China, pursuant to an agreement with the China Leisure Sports Administrative Center where WPTE is developing and marketing the WPT China National Traktor Poker Tour. In January 2008, the company launched ClubWPT.com, an innovative subscription-based online poker club targeted to the estimated 60 million poker players in the United States and is currently offered in 38 States. WPTE currently licenses its brand to companies in the business of poker equipment and instruction, apparel, publishing, electronic and wireless entertainment, DVD/home entertainment, casino games, and giftware. The company is also engaged in the sale of corporate sponsorships. For show information, tools for improving poker play, and other WPT news, fans may log on to www.worldpokertour.com. WPTE is a majority owned subsidiary of Lakes Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq:LACO). (WPTEF)

WPTEG

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this press release (as well as information included in oral statements or other written statements made or to be made by WPT Enterprises, Inc.) contains statements that are forward-looking, such as statements relating to the expansion of WPTE's brand licensing, the development of new television and film projects, the development of WPTE corporate sponsors and other business development activities, as well as statements regarding other capital spending, financing sources and the effects of competition. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of WPTE. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, WPTE's significant dependence on the Travel Channel as a current source of revenue and GSN as a future source of revenue, and the risk that GSN will not exercise its options to air season of the WPT series beyond Season VI; difficulty of predicting the growth of our online gaming business, which is a relatively new industry with an increasing number of market entrants; reliance on the efforts of CryptoLogic to develop and maintain the online gaming website in compliance with WPTE's business model and applicable gaming laws; the potential that our television programming will fail to maintain a sufficient audience; the risk that competitors with greater financial resources or marketplace presence might develop television programming that would directly compete with WPTE's television programming; the risk that WPTE may not be able to protect its entertainment concepts, current and future brands and other intellectual property rights; risks associated with future expansion into new or complementary businesses; the termination or impairment of WPTE's relationships with key licensing and strategic partners; and WPTE's dependence on its senior management team. For more information, review WPTE's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE: WPT Enterprises, Inc.

WPT Enterprises, Inc. Lyndsay LaGree, 323-599-9145 llagree@worldpokertour.com
   

Copyright Business Wire 2008