Online Poker News » April 2006 » April 7, 2006.

Gavin Smith Leads Race For World Poker Tour Player-Of-The-Year With 'The Grinder' In Hot Pursuit Going Into WPT World Championship. Previous WPT Champ Alan Goehring Is In Third.

(Los Angeles, CA) - Two of the hottest young players in poker are battling it out for the WORLD POKER TOUR(R) Player-of-the-Year title for Season IV - but anything can happen at the WPT World Championship, April 18 - 24 at Bellagio in Las Vegas, making this race anything but a sure thing.

Gavin Smith, with his win at the Mirage Poker Showdown and third place in the Doyle Brunson North American Challenge, holds a 400-point lead over Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, winner of the Borgata Poker Classic and second in the Jack Binion Poker Open. Both of them have in-the-money finishes at other tournaments that contribute to their point totals.

Smith is at 2100 points, Mizrachi at 1700 and Alan Goerhing, victor at the LA Poker Classic, and a previous winner of the Season I WPT World Championship, is in third with 1300 points. In the WPT's ranking system 1,000 points are awarded for a victory, 700 for second place, 600 for third, 500 for fourth, 400 for fifth, 300 for sixth and 200 seventh.

"If Mizrachi can place fourth or better in the WPT World Championship, he can take that title from Gavin ‘on the river,'" noted Steve Lipscomb, founder and CEO of WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: WPTE), "provided that Gavin doesn't increase his point total with a top-seven finish. This will be a thrilling finale to our nearly $100 million fourth season on the WORLD POKER TOUR(R). Either of these guys would make a great Player-of-the-Year."

They would be in history-making company. The WPT's first Player-of-the-Year was Erick Lindgren and the second was Daniel Negreanu, both of whom have continued to win and stay at the very top of the game. They are part of the new wave of young poker stars who have changed the game of poker and been central figures on the WORLD POKER TOUR(R), which airs on the Travel Channel every Wednesday night at 9 PM ET/PT.

The WPT World Championship - where the Player-of-the-Year will be decided - is expected to attract nearly 600 players from more than 40 countries. The estimated $12-$15 million prize pool could make as many as three new WPT millionaires.

Satellite tournaments for the WPT World Championship are being run by more than 49 casinos, many with small buy-ins. For information on who offers satellites, go to www.worldpokertour.com. Bellagio will run tournaments daily beginning April 5 that will award seats in the event and will offer two $2,500 Super Satellite Tournaments Sunday, April 16 and Monday, April 17.

The WORLD POKER TOUR is the global leader in poker. The WPT introduced poker to a worldwide audience through its innovative and riveting brand of televised poker, now seen in more than 147 countries and territories. Capturing all the excitement and sizzling action at its 17 Tour stops around the globe, the shows sets the gold standard in poker programming. The WPT inspired a global poker phenomenon that has attracted millions of men and women to the game and legions of devoted followers to the poker lifestyle. It has transformed poker into the sport of choice for vast numbers of viewers and players, and the hundreds of millions of dollars of prize money on the WPT have rekindled the promise of "The New American Dream." The WORLD POKER TOUR airs on the Travel Channel, every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET/PT in the U.S. and on ITV4 in the U.K. For more information, go to the WPT's website: www.worldpokertour.com.

Source: WPT Press Release

Tags: Gavin Smith, Championship, WPT, Results, World Championship.