WPT for sale?

I'll get you part two of that Pokernews series, soon as I youtube it. In the meantime a little news brief. It looks like one of my favorite sites is thinking about joining the fray and expanding the brand a little bit. Every few weeks there is a new suitor for the WPT, but this one looks like it has legs. Bwin, the popular European online casino, to buy?

What I read places WPT CEO Steven Lipscomb in Gibraltar. That's an English piece of land at the southern tip of Spain. Yeah, it's weird but anyway that's kind of Europe's Costa Rica for casino online sites and that is close to all kinds of European players.

Soon, as the U.I.E.G.A. gets put down you're going to find out a lot about these European sites as the market will be full with competition. Which is a great thing. Anybody wanting to play online casino will have some regulated options. One site in particular might come in a little more well known than others and that's bwin if they buy the WPT.

The WPT story is an interesting business legacy. At first their stock IPO'd at $8 a share. They, though some Brits dispute it, were the first to offer pockt cams, and poker on TV suddenly became worth watching. The travel channel had a new show, that had little to do with traveling, though they gave some lip service to it early on, and the WPT took off.

Well, imitation being flattery and all, isn't entirely true, because soon the poker shows flooded the dial. The WPT was just one of many and ratings suffered, so did the stock price. Also, the WPT perhaps managed itself a little carelessly as a circuit and forgot about the bottom line.

Recently it was reported that Lipscomb had cleverly secured a piece of any sale made this year. So, buyers might know the clock is running out and their is a motivated seller. Bwin, isn't afraid of taking risks, offering a play casino online, and is probably one of a few playing chicken. The two organizations are old friends with Bwin doing online satellites for the WPT Venice stop.

It would be great for bwin to inject some life into the flailing WPT. Let's hope so.