Bwin to buy World Poker Tour?

Bwin rumoured to be interested in World Poker Tour

World Poker Tour CEO Steve Lipscomb said “we’ve had discussions with, and exchanged documents with, some companies that have expressed an interest” but no names were mentioned when talking to the Wall Street Journal. After two years of making losses WPT has finally had a quarter in the black. The stock price that was once over $26 is now under $2 so the current value of the business makes it a prime target for acquisition. There is plenty of competition out there with many poker shows on several cable channels but the brand name could be used by someone like bwin to capture a large chunk of the US online poker market provided of course that the law is changed sometime in the not too distant future. WPT is just starting its eighth season of tournaments. Such a move by bwin would also give some competition to the World Series of Poker brand name which is also expected to be pushed out online if the laws change.

Bwin is one of the largest online gaming companies claiming to take over 300,000 bets daily in more than 90 different sports and operates in 22 languages but although well respected in Europe do not yet have a large presence in the USA.