WPT Enterprises announced yesterday the addition of its 14th official casino member in its growing international roster. The deal involves an expansion agreement with Spanish based Grupo Peralada, the largest casino operator in Spain and owners of the Casino De Barcelona located in Barcelona’s harbour district. The agreement includes the creation of a new stop on the VI season of the World Poker Tour at the Barcelona Casino sometime in October 2007.
The group also signed agreements to pursue online gaming in Spain as well as discuss the addition of a Spanish Poker Tour that would feature televised tournaments across the Grupo Peralada properties. WPT Enterprises also is investigating added some stops in Latin American to their tour schedule coming next year.
Steve Lipscomb, CEO of WPT Enterprises comment on the partnership saying, “This is a very important move for us as we continue to expand our business in the European market. The partnership with Grup Peralada is a ground-breaking deal that will allow both companies to benefit from each other’s strengths to create exciting new growth and business opportunities. We are very excited to kick off our relationship with Grup Peralada with the inaugural WPT stop in Spain at the prestigious Casino Barcelona.”
Oliver Zugel, CEO of Casino Operations for Grupo Peralada shared similar positivity about the agreement. “This agreement further reinforces our leading position in Poker. It will create a new standard for premium, televised poker events in Europe and lay the groundwork for an Iberian tour involving other leading casinos in Spain and Portugal.”
The WPT’s VI season kicks off on May 19th with the Mirage Poker Showdown at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. For more information on the WPT tournament circuit, click here for their tournament schedule.
