WPT Aborts Paris Stop

The attack on internet poker has made itself felt in the live poker world again. This time, it has resulted in the cancellation of a World Poker Tour (WPT) stop. While the Grand Prix de Paris will still be held next month, it will not be taped by the WPT.

In France, only government-run gambling entities are permitted to offer or advertise online gambling. The WPT has its own online poker room and thus by extension would be advertising it by sponsoring the event. The WPT and French officials were in discussions on how to resolve the situation in order to keep everything as planned at the Aviation Club de France, but the WPT was not able to get the guarantee it needed with enough lead time to proceed with the filming.

This is not the first major event to be cancelled in France this year. The European Poker Tour, which is sponsored by PokerStars.com, was forced to call off its tournament in Deauville for the same reasons as the World Poker Tour.