Issue 98
July 22 - 28, 2002
Volume 3
page 2
 

The Bicycle Casino To Host
World Poker Tour

MINNEAPOLIS - /BUSINESS WIRE/ - Lakes Gaming, Inc. announced on July 12 the first ever World Poker Tour is going to The Bicycle Casino for the Legends of Poker Tournament.

It's time to shuffle up and deal! The next stop on the World Poker Tour's prestigious circuit is The Legends of Poker No-limit Texas Hold'em Championship to be held on Saturday, August 31st, at 5:15 PM (TBC), at The Bicycle Casino, 7301 Eastern Ave, Bell Gardens, CA.

The Los Angeles-based World Poker Tour is bringing the burgeoning scene of high-stakes poker tournaments to national television. The much anticipated television sensation will film the Legends of Poker final table, an exhilarating showdown between the game's most skilled rounders from around the globe, who have the guts to ante up $5,000 and compete for a prize pool of over half a million dollars. The public is invited to attend the TV taping and witness the drama of high-stakes poker.

Unknown to most Los Angelinos, poker is legal in California and games such as Texas Hold'em and seven-card stud (buy-ins range from $20 to $2,000) are played in cardrooms, such as The Bicycle Casino, throughout the Southland. Contrary to the image of poker in the days of the Wild Wild West, The Bicycle Casino is smoke-free, well-lit, and serves a full-menu of gourmet food to players while they're seated at one of the 135 poker tables.

Played by over 50 million Americans, the nation's most popular card game is poised to become the next major mainstream sport on television. The World Poker Tour will be the first regularly scheduled televised series of poker events in history, with production values equivalent to network sports programming. The season will consist of thirteen nationally televised poker events filmed in casinos around the world, from Los Angeles to Paris, where finalists compete for multi-million dollar prize pools.

The World Poker Tour will negotiate with one or more television networks for the broadcast of these events, although no final arrangements have been made. Alternatively, WPT may decide to purchase air time and broadcast the events itself.

The WPT premiered its made-for-television poker concept in Las Vegas at the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic in June. Some of the world's greatest players were in the field, including poker legends such as Amarillo Slim, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, and Los Angeles residents Johnny Chan (of Rounders fame) and John Juanda.

After five strenuous days pitting his cunning, skills and nerves against 146 of the world's greatest players, a weary but euphoric Gus Hansen of Copenhagen, Denmark moved his chips "all-in" with a pair of kings in the pocket against John Juanda and took home the top prize of $556,480.

The next World Poker Tour event at The Bicycle Casino is sure to be as full of drama as the opening in Las Vegas. Steven Lipscomb, founder and CEO of the World Poker Tour, is excited about the upcoming event at "California's Legendary Gaming Palace." "It is only fitting that our second show be the 'Legends of Poker' tournament at the Bike," said Lipscomb. "More than a tournament, Legends is an event. Admission is free and hundreds of people will be treated to the world's next great spectator sport."

The World Poker Tour is a joint venture between Steve Lipscomb and Lakes Entertainment, Inc.


Small California Tribe Set to Open Casino - AUGUSTINE INDIAN RESERVATION, CA - California’s Augustine Band of Mission Indians - consisting of eight members - will open a casino on July 25, offering 349 slot machines, 10 card tables and a 24-hour coffee shop. Located in the Coachella Valley abot 130 miles east of Los Angeles, the reservation was uninhabited for years after various diseases, including smallpox, diminished the tribe’s population to just 11 members in 1951. The tribe nearly disappeared with the death in 1986 of Roberta Augustine, its only federally enrolled member. But Maryann Martin, Augustine’s granddaughter and the tribe’s only adult member, decided to move to the reservation after learning of her heritage. "Now this place really has an opportunity," says Diana Bennett, president of Paragon Gaming, the Las Vegas company that developed the casino and plans to manage the $16 million casino.

June Slowest Growth for Detroit Casinos - DRTROIT, MI - For the Detroit casino industry, its 10.5 percent growth rate for the month of June was the smallest that the city’s three casinos have experienced since their opening. Monthly growth rates in 2002 ranged from 19 percent to 29 percent, subsiding in June, largely due to smaller revenue gains at MGM Grand Detroit (2 percent) and Greektown (13 percent) casinos, which are cross-river rivals. Only Motor City casino’s growth rate held steady at 17 percent, making the Mandalay Resort Group property the market-share leader for June and year to date. Detroit's three casinos took in $88.5 million overall in June, up 10.5 percent from the same month in 2001 but down from the double-digit levels seen earlier this year. "It was softer than I expected," said Patrick Diedrickson, H&R Block Financial Advisors Inc. senior analyst. But he's not yet ready to declare that Detroit's casino spending is on the verge of flattening out. "One month does not make a trend,"says Diedrickson.

Cher

Cher will performa at MGM Grand Hotel Casino's Grand Garden Arena August 9-10.

Since the mid-'70s, Cher has been known more for her acting than for her music, starring in films like "Silkwood," "Mask," "The Witches of Eastwick," "Mermaids" and "Moonstruck, for which she won a Best Actress Oscar.

Price: $39.75, $75.25, $150.25

Showtime: 8:00 p.m.

Reservations: Reservations Recommended

For more information please call: (800) 646-7787
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