Live or online, poker has taken gaming and entertainment by storm.
In online poker, poker rooms such as Full Tilt poker and Everest Poker provide a state-of-the-art software application with plenty of game variations and promotions to satisfy all kinds of players.
In live poker, tournament events have multiplied all over the world, bringing crowds of poker players and railbirds. The World Poker Tour is the leading organization organizing these tournaments.
If you have been watching poker on the television, chances are you saw one of the World Poker Tour final table rediffusions. These make for excellent entertainment.
WPT TV shows display some of the best poker tournaments as these are some of the largest buy-in events, with buy-in ranging from $3,000 to $15,000, mostly around $10k. The first prizes are usually north of one million dollars. Clearly such sums of money attract the best poker players and the quality of poker of these final tables is second to none.
These shows are well produced and make the events highly entertaining, in particular because of the quality of the host commentators, Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten. They also have some gorgeous sideline reporters interviewing the players.
Mike Sexton himself is a poker player who has been inducted in the Poker Hall of Fame and has won one WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 Seven card split event. Even more outstanding are his 46 money finishes at the WSOP. It is hard to find a better host and his knowledge and passion for the game of poker make him a great commentator at the WPT.
Mike and Vince have been hosting the WPT on TV since the beginning and this pair is inseparable from the WPT in all poker fans' minds.
Of course, there is live poker, and there is also online poker. These are truly complementary forms of poker, and one could not be as popular as it is nowadays without the other. In online poker one of the leading poker room is full tilt poker. If you sign up there, make sure to use a full tilt rakeback deal for minimizing your rake.
The two forms of poker are really in symbiosis so to speak. For example, many entrants to the big buy-in live tournaments qualify from satellite tournaments run on the Web. This includes the WPT. On the other hand, you will see all the major online poker rooms advertize at these big live events. And only the best poker players excel at both forms of poker. Full Tilt Poker's superstar Phil Ivey can dominate anyone, both live or online. This is pure skill.