The World Poker Tour, one of the pioneers in televised poker, is now offering several of its episodes for free on its website. The episodes are limited to Season I, but the entire season is available for viewing, which will give poker fans hours of entertainment.
Perhaps the reason the first season is now online is because it is the only season of the WPT that cannot currently be seen on television. Season VI is currently airing new episodes on the Game Show Network, while re-runs of Seasons II through V are on the WPT’s former home, the Travel Channel. GSN did not pick up its option for Season VII, so the WPT’s future status on television is up in the air.
The first episode of Season I features six very strong players – Gus Hansen, John Hennigan, Freddy Deeb, John Juanda, Chris Bigler, and Scotty Nguyen – at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio. It is interesting to see all the things that stand out in the broadcast which show how new the poker phenomenon was. Both announcers, Vince Van Patten and Mike Sexton, referred to Juanda as “Yoo-anda,” and Freddy Deeb was listed by his given name, “Kassem” Deeb. Sexton and Van Patten also lauded the hole card cameras, which are obviously commonplace now, and they took a lot of time to explain the rules of no-limit Texas hold’em to the viewers. No hand percentages are displayed, but the production quality is still very strong.
