The Professional Poker Tour(TM): New Faces, New Places for Season II

The Professional Poker Tour(TM): New Faces, New Places for Season II

New WPT Champions Head the List of Newcomers Competing in $500,000 Freeroll Tournaments

Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi, Gavin Smith, Joe Bartholdi and Tuan Le Join the Field

LOS ANGELES, June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With the television debut of the first season of the PROFESSIONAL POKER TOUR(TM) (PPT) slated for July 5 on the Travel Channel -- only a month away -- WPT Enterprises, Inc., announced today the field and the schedule for the PPT's second tournament season to begin in September 2006.

PPT's Season II features a field of 265 and one new site on the tour -- Borgata in Atlantic City, NJ. In addition to Borgata, the four PPT tournaments will be filmed at some of America's true palaces of poker: Foxwoods Resort Casino, Commerce Casino and Bellagio.

The action-packed PROFESSIONAL POKER TOUR showcases poker's leading stars in a new and exciting format, destined to ratchet up televised poker to a whole new level. Enticed by four "freeroll" tournaments with a total of $2 million in prize money provided by the PPT, the game's legends and new young idols face off over several grueling days of tournament play and one intense championship round.

Casino Tournament Dates Final Table Date
Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ 9/11/06 - 9/12/06 9/20/06
Foxwoods, Mashantucket, CT 11/07/06 - 11/08/06 11/15/06
Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV 11/29/06-11/30/06 12/20/06
Commerce Casino, Los Angeles, CA 02/12/07 - 02/13/07 03/06/07

The field of poker All-Stars competing in the PPT continues to grow even stronger with the addition of newly qualified players, whose performances over the past two years have landed them one, two or three-year PPT-Tour cards.

New to the list are Season IV WORLD POKER TOUR(R) (WPT) Player of the Year Gavin Smith, two-time WPT winner Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, WPT World Champions Joe Bartholdi and Tuan Le, two-time Season IV WPT Final Table players David Singer and John D'Agostino, World Series winner Joseph Hachem, and the following WPT Champions and poker notables: Patrik Antonius, Al Ardebili, Andrew Black, Alex Brenes, Steven Dannenmann, Roland De Wolfe, John Gale, Michael Gracz, Joan Hoang, Rob Hollink, Alex Kahaner, Aaron Kanter, Hung La, Scott Lazar, Nam Le, J.J. Liu, Ming Ly, Lee Markholt Jr., Paul Maxfield, Danny Nguyen, Steve Paul-Ambrose, Rehne Pedersen, Max Pescatori, John Phan, Vanessa Rousso, Nick Schulman, Michael Simon, David Singer, Arnold Spee, Fabrice Soulier John Stolzmann, Johan Storakers and James Van Alstyne, among others.

Returnees include a vast array of poker luminaries including Doyle Brunson, Barry Greenstein, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Ted Forrest, Carlos Mortensen, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Scotty Nguyen, Erick Lindgren, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, T.J. Cloutier, Dan Harrington, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Mel Judah, Kathy Liebert, Erik Seidel, David Williams, Hasan Habib, and more. A full list can be found at www.pptonline.com.

With its PPT Qualification system, the PROFESSIONAL POKER TOUR has ensured the highest level of play at each and every tournament. For its second season, players receive membership based on their previous poker accomplishments -- which must include winning a WPT event, playing at more than one WPT Final Table in a season, placing in the top six at the WPT World Championship(TM), by scoring as a top 10 point leader in WPT Player-of-the-Year rankings, by winning or placing among the final six at the $10K Main Event at the World Series of Poker, by securing a spot on either CardPlayer Magazine's Player of the Year Top 10 list, Bluff Magazine's Player of the Year Top 10 list, PokerPages.com's Player of the Year Top 10 list, ALL-IN Magazine's Player of the Year Top 10 list, Poker Europa's Top 20 list, or by being inducted in the Poker Hall of Fame. Players who participated in 13 WPT events in either Season 3 or 4 also received memberships, and all remaining players were the top money finishers in Seasons 3 and 4 of the WORLD POKER TOUR.

For more information on the PPT, go to: www.pptonline.com.

About WPTE

WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WPTE) is a company engaged in the creation of internationally branded entertainment and consumer products driven by the development, production, and marketing of televised programming based on gaming themes. WPTE is the creator of the World Poker Tour(R), a television show based on a series of high-stakes poker tournaments that airs on the Travel Channel in the United States and more than 150 markets globally. With the WPT in its fifth season, WPTE has launched a second series on the Travel Channel, the Professional Poker Tour(TM), which focuses on the play of poker's leading stars. WPT Enterprises currently licenses its brand to companies in the business of poker equipment and instruction, apparel, publishing, electronic and wireless entertainment, DVD/home entertainment, casino games, and giftware. For show information, tools for improving poker play, and other WPT news, fans may log on to www.worldpokertour.com. The company is also engaged in the sale of corporate sponsorships. WPT Enterprises, Inc. is a majority owned subsidiary of Lakes Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:LACO). Photos and media information can be found online at: www.worldpokertour.com/media.

WPTEG

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this press release (as well as information included in oral statements or other written statements made or to be made by WPT Enterprises, Inc.) contains statements that are forward-looking, such as statements relating to the expansion of WPTE's brand licensing, the development of new television and film projects, the development of WPTE corporate sponsors and other business development activities, as well as statements regarding other capital spending, financing sources and the effects of competition. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of WPTE. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, WPTE's significant dependence on the Travel Channel as a source of revenue; the potential that our television programming will fail to maintain a sufficient audience; the risk that competitors with greater financial resources or marketplace presence might develop television programming that would directly compete with WPTE's television programming; the risk that WPT may not be able to protect its entertainment concepts, current and future brands and other intellectual property rights; risks associated with future expansion into new or complementary businesses; the termination or impairment of WPTE's relationships with key licensing and strategic partners; and WPTE's dependence on its senior management team. For more information, review WPTE's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SEASON II PPT PLAYER LIST

Players who Qualified for a Three-Year Card

Al Ardebili Barry Greenstein Carlos Mortensen
J. Derick Barch Hasan Habib Daniel Negreanu
Joseph Bartholdi Joseph Hachem Scotty Nguyen
David Benyamine John Hoang Men Nguyen
Chris Bigler Phil Ivey Danny Nguyen
Alex Brenes John Juanda Steve Paul-Ambrose
Eric Brenes Alex Kahaner Rehne Pedersen
Humberto Brenes Casey Kastle Max Pescatori
Doyle Brunson Hung La David Pham
Allen Cunningham Tuan Le John Phan
John D'Agostino Nam Le Victor Ramdin
Steven Dannenmann Erick Lindgren Nick Schulman
Roland De Wolfe Minh Ly Michael Simon
Freddy Deeb Tony Ma David Singer
Eli Elezra Lee Markholt Jr. Gavin Smith
Chris Ferguson David Matthew Arnold Spee
Ted Forrest Mike Matusow John Stolzmann
John Gale Paul Maxfield Surinder Sunar
Alan Goehring Tom McEvoy James Van Alstyne
Michael Gracz Michael Mizrachi Lee Watkinson
Stan Weiss

Players who Qualified for a Two-Year Card

Josh Arieh Antonio Esfandiari Aaron Kanter Greg Raymer
Lyle Berman Layne Flack Phil Laak Chip Reese
Andrew Black Chau Giang Scott Lazar Ron Rose
Andy Bloch Dan Harrington Howard Lederer Huck Seed
T.J. Cloutier Phil Hellmuth, Jr. Kathy Liebert Erik Seidel
Hoyt Corkins Rob Hollink Claus Nielsen David Williams
Paul Darden, Jr. Chip Jett Paul Phillips
Martin deKnijff Mel Judah David Plastik

Players who Qualified for a One-Year Card

Daniel Alspach Dave Freed Tony Licastro Josh Schlein
Tim Anders Anahit Galajian Joanne "JJ" Liu Tom Schneider
Patrik Antonius Bill Gazes Brook Lyter Mike Sexton
Sammy Arzoin Stan Goldstein Paul Magriel Samir Shakhtoor
Joe Awada Abraham Gray Gary Maresh Ozzy Sheikh
Dao Bac David Grey Jay Martens Hilbert Shirey
Alex Balandin Richard Grijalva Chris McCormack Jeff Shulman
E Barker Tony G Alan McLean Barry Shulman
Joe Beevers Harley Hall Patrick McMillan Steve Simmons
Jean-Robert Tommy Hang Nenad Medic Sovann Sin
Bellande
Chris Bell Gus Hansen Perry Meltzer Danny Smith
Bradley Berman Jennifer Harman Andy Miller John Smith
Robert Binelli Keith Hawkins Jake Minter Fabrice Soulier
Chris Bjorin Daniel Heimiller David Minto Josh Spiegelman
Freddy Bonyadi Grant Helling Robert Mizrachi Jan Stein
Robert Border Juha Helppi Edward Moncada Jason Stern
Steve Bovis Anders Henriksson Brandon Moran Johan Storakers
Steve Brecher Michael Higgins Valentino Shandor Szentkuti
Morella
Chad Brown Patrick Hocking Stuart Nash Richard Tatalovich
Joe Cassidy Temp Hutter Barry Neville Jason Tate
Miami John Cernuto "Action" Bob Hwang Minh Nguyen Julian Thew
Mathew Cherackal Alex Jacob Simon Nowab Eugene Todd
Corey Cheresnick Kenna James Kevin O'Donnell Robert Toft
Dave Colclough Randy Jensen James Overman JC Tran
Joseph Cordi Linda Johnson Raul Paez Chris
Tsiprailidis
Lenny Cortellino Ben Johnson Pascal Perrault Thomas Turley
Anthony Cousineau Ed Jordan Kido Pham Ravi Udayakumar
Adam Csallany Cliff D. Josephy Tim Thien Phan Per Ummer
Greg De Bora Richard Kain Todd Philips Amir Vahedi
Allan Dean Gabe Kaplan Devin Porter Vince Van Patten
Asher Derei Bruce Kater Kjetil Praesttun Haralabos
Voulgaris
Darrell Dicken Raj Kattamuri Alex Prendes Chan Vu
Avdo Djokovic Allen Kessler Daniel Quach Marsha Waggoner
Annie Duke Larry Klur Steve Rassi Paul Wasicka
William Edler D Knight Sebastian Dennis Waterman
Riviere-Karen
John Falconer Curt Kohlberg Ben Roberts Michael Wernick
John Fanning Allen Krell Peter Roche Mikael Westerlund
Ricardo Festejo V. Senthil Kumar Blair Rodman Michael Woo
Vic Fey M.D. Vinnie Landrum Philippe Rouas Ian Woodley
Amnon Filippi Pete Lawson Vanessa Rousso Charalambos
Xanthos
Scott Fischman Tom Lee John F. Russell Michael Yoshino
Greg Fondacaro Toto Leonidas Espen Saltnes Michel Zajdenberg
Captain Tom David Levi Tracy Scala Carlos Zambrano
Franklin Don Zewin
Stephen Zolotow

Contact:
Erik Stein/ WPT: 323-330-9872
estein@worldpokertour.com

Karen Trachtenberg/WPT: 323-330-9854
ktrachtenberg@worldpokertour.com

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050809/LATU100LOGO )

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050809/LATU100LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: WPT Enterprises, Inc.

CONTACT: Erik Stein, +1-323-330-9872, estein@worldpokertour.com, or
Karen Trachtenberg, +1-323-330-9854, ktrachtenberg@worldpokertour.com, or
Jackie Lapin, +1-818-707-1473, jlapin@worldpokertour.com, all of WPT
Enterprises, Inc.

Web site: http://www.pptonline.com/

Web site: http://www.worldpokertour.com/media

Web site: http://www.worldpokertour.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: There are 300 dpi downloadable images of the Professional Poker Tour available at www.worldpokertour.com/media . Click on Photo Gallery/PPT

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