India's WPT Poker Face

World Poker Tour to arrive in India

From the beauties of Bangalore to the delights of Delhi, all of the spice-rich nation of India will soon be enjoying the non-stop excitement and tongue-tingling action of the World Poker Tour (WPT).

WPT Enterprises and ZEE Entertainment Enterprises have jointly announced in a press conference that ZEE Sports will be airing the World Poker Tour in September, over nineteen two hour episodes of Season IV.

An Indian-first poker experience

Steve Lipscomb, WPTE's founder, was ecstatic about the deal: "Zee Sports and WPTE together create a powerful partnership as the most trusted vehicles to introduce poker to India," he said. "We are delighted to be making history together."

Over 500,000 viewers are expected to tune in to the poker spectacle, considering that ZEE Sports is the ZEE Networks prime sports channel, with the network itself being the largest media franchise serving the South Asian Diaspora.

Changing the law of the land

Traditionally, India has kept a closed hand in the world of gambling, even enacting several legislative measures to prohibit betting, including the Public Gambling Act of 1867, the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations 2000, and lastly India's first cyber-law, the Information Technology Act 2000.

The ZEE - WPTE partnership is the first large scale televised attempt to introduce gambling to the world's second most populous nation, and while it may upset the government, the tour is expected to draw a royal flush from the country's residents.