WPT Enterprises, Inc. (WPTE-NASDAQ)
Interview with: Steven Lipscomb, Founder and CEO
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and Information on their WORLD POKER TOUR®, 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 65 markets globally.

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WPT Enterprises drives worldwide brand recognition with hit television show, consumer products and online gaming website, leaving competitors far behind as the company expands globally Services



Entertainment
WORLD POKER TOUR™
(WPTE-NASDAQ)

WPT Enterprises, Inc.

5700 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 350
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-330-9900

Steven Lipscomb
Founder and CEO

Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor
CEOCFOinterviews.com
June 2, 2005

BIO: STEVEN LIPSCOMB
FOUNDER AND CEO

An award-winning producer/director of television and film, Steven Lipscomb is the visionary, founder, and CEO of WPT Enterprises and the WORLD POKER TOUR™ (WPT).

Lipscomb reinvented the concept of televised poker. His innovation included using 16 cameras, expert commentary, explanatory graphics and the WPT Cam, a revolutionary technology to capture the players’ hole cards. He also introduced the concept of storytelling to the world of televised poker—building each show to a climax, just as viewers were used to seeing in reality TV.

Lipscomb had extensive experience filming professional poker before launching the WPT. In 1999, he produced and directed "On the Inside of The World Series of Poker" for the Discovery Channel, the highest rated poker show in the history of television. He also filmed the "2001 Tournament of Champions of Poker," before going on to create and executive produce "Cruisin' to a Million" for the Travel Channel, a program showcasing a million-dollar poker tournament on a cruise ship in the Mexican Riviera.

Lipscomb has worked closely with such luminaries as Al Burton, Norman Lear and Alvin Toffler to create successful films and television shows. His numerous credits include "Turn Ben Stein On," "Beyond Future Shock," and "Battle for the Minds."

Launching into new uncharted waters in 2003, Lipscomb created the first professional poker tour, the first weekly television show, a leading production company that develops concepts around poker and gaming, and a licensing arm that is aligning with manufacturers, publishers and other organizations to bring to market WORLD POKER TOUR-branded products.

In August 2004, the company went public as WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: WPTE). Most recently, Lipscomb launched the first league for professional poker players, the Professional Poker Tour (PPT). In 2004-5 Lipscomb and the WPT Enterprises will produce 25 WPT regular season show, WPT specials (Ladies’ Night, Poker By The Book, Stars of Discovery) and PPT tournaments for television.

Formerly an attorney with Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher, Lipscomb received his B.A. with honors from Dartmouth College, where he was president of his class, and his J.D. from the University of Chicago, where he was a Greenberg Scholar. He sold his own attorney referral business to fund his first film.

Company Profile:
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®, 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 65 markets globally. 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).

The WORLD POKER TOURâ show is a televised “tour” of 16 prestigious high-stakes poker tournaments filmed on location at glamorous casinos around the world.  The Tour itself has seen phenomenal growth as it the player size and prize pools have continued to increase and the tour averages making a new millionaire month in the sport of poker.  The Wednesday night prime time television show has set ratings records on the Travel Channel. Millions of viewers tune in each week to see players bet millions of dollars on a bluff and to pick up a few tips for their own game.   In its first three seasons, the WPT widened the television audience for poker by injecting high concept, cutting-edge television production values into the dramatic world of high-stakes, upscale, tournament poker. By projecting poker's true image--a stylish and exhilarating sport combining cunning, skill, and nerve—the WPT has revolutionized televised poker and created poker and created a mainstream sports sensation.”

CEOCFOinterviews: Mr. Lipscomb, what was your vision when you started three years ago, and how has it played out?
Mr. Lipscomb: “I approached people in 2001 with a business plan to advance poker into a mainstream sport sensation. At the time, when I was pitching poker as a sport -- just like the NBA or the PGA-- people smirked or laughed. They didn’t believe such a transformation could occur. Today, they are taking us seriously, and we have enacted our business plan, creating a very successful venture in three short years. In so doing, that transformation we envisaged has happened and we have launched poker into the stratosphere.”

CEOCFOinterviews: What makes it a sport?
Mr. Lipscomb: “When I grew up in Tennessee, there were three sports; football, basketball and baseball-- and everything else was not quite considered a sport. Today, the Olympics is peppered with fantastic competition that requires endurance, stamina, mental and physical acuity—the same qualities you see in poker players. As a result, poker is gaining recognition from many mainstream sports media, who are now covering the WPT. The first time we approached Sports Illustrated to write about poker, the magazine had no interest. Today the magazine is featuring the WORLD POKER TOUR in a variety of stories and is continuing to follow the phenomenon we created.”

CEOCFOinterviews: Will you tell us a bit about the WORLD POKER TOUR?
Mr. Lipscomb: "The WORLD POKER TOURâ show is a televised “tour” of 16 prestigious high-stakes poker tournaments filmed on location at glamorous casinos around the world. The Tour itself has seen phenomenal growth as it the player size and prize pools have continued to increase and the tour averages making a new millionaire month in the sport of poker. The Wednesday night prime time television show has set ratings records on the Travel Channel. Millions of viewers tune in each week to see players bet millions of dollars on a bluff and to pick up a few tips for their own game. In its first three seasons, the WPT widened the television audience for poker by injecting high concept, cutting-edge television production values into the dramatic world of high-stakes, upscale tournament poker.

I believe that part of our success has been in amassing the huge prize pools that have attracted both professional and amateur players. We recently passed a remarkable milestone. We now have awarded more than $100 million in prize money on the WORLD POKER TOUR in less than three seasons. That has, in turn, driven people across the country to a new American dream. For the first time in the history of sports entertainment, anyone can show up and play in a major sport on primetime television and have a shot to take down the superstars of the game and win life-changing money.”

CEOCFOinterviews: How much of an impact does the sport being televised play?
Mr. Lipscomb: “Poker had been on television for a number of years, but it was incomprehensible. We reinvented poker for television. Thanks to the support of Lakes Entertainment and Lyle Berman who shared my maniacal belief that poker could be something much bigger, we were able to develop a formula that worked—it involved 16 cameras, cameras on the hole cards, expert commentary, explanatory graphics and editing these shows into a storyline that had a climax, much like reality TV. The phenomenon that you see across the country is the result. Millions of people are playing poker and coming back to the game.”

CEOCFOinterviews: What are your plans for the brand?
Mr. Lipscomb: “In 2001, when I initially pitched the concept to broadcasters, I believed that if we could engage the fifty million people who were already playing poker on a regular basis, we could build a brand. So the real play was to use television to create that brand. We are now extending into everything you could imagine-- poker chips, poker tables home videos, books, apparel, and a dozen other categories--even cell phone content. Starting this month you can play WPT video poker on your cell phone with many major international carriers. In 2006, there will be slot machines that IGT will be rolling out into the market place.

We had a very successful first quarter with our consumer product revenues. We are now graduating our brand to a global platform since our show broadcasts in more than sixty countries around the world. We are creating poker markets wherever we go. Next in our business plan is to launch an international gaming website, which you cannot access as a player in the U.S. We will introduce the site only in countries where online gaming is currently legal. That revenue stream could potentially dwarf everything else we do today.”

CEOCFOinterviews: Are people coming to you with products or are you actively looking for licensing opportunities?
Mr. Lipscomb: “As soon as our success began, people came to us wanting to associate with the brand. We have been very careful in our selection and utilized Brandgenuity, a New York-based licensing company, to help us choose first-in-class licensees. We look at this as a long-term venture. Just like the NBA and Disney protect their brands, we do that with every product we introduce.

The great thing about where we find ourselves today-- as opposed to three years ago-- is that I was trying to make the case everywhere that poker was something that could become mainstream. We do not have to make that case anymore because we have achieved our goal. Furthermore, the success we are having selling WPT branded products in the marketplace demonstrates people’s loyalty to the brand. They want to be part of not just the poker phenomenon, but specifically the WORLD POKER TOUR.”

CEOCFOinterviews: Why is there such a strong association with the brand and how do you keep it going?
Mr. Lipscomb: “My economics professor in law school was of the belief that people associate with brands because they know they are going to get quality. In the poker clutter now, few entities are ensuring that their licensed products are the best you can find in the marketplace. We have made that a cornerstone for WPTE. People know they are going to get value when they participate in a WORLD POKER TOUR event or purchase WORLD POKER TOUR merchandise. I think, as much as anything, people associate with a brand for comfort. Why do we go to Disney movies for our children? Because we believe there is somebody who cares about sustaining that brand over a long period. We know they are not only going to have quality product, but that the brand represents a particular type of product. Our fans know that The WORLD POKER TOUR is associated with quality and that through us they can experience the authentic force that established poker as a mainstream sport.

People come to us to learn more about the game. If you want to learn more about poker-- and find a way to participate in this new phenomenon that we have launched-- the best way to do that is to be a part of our world. Come to our website www.worldpokertour.com and find out about our show this week. If you want to set up a home game, we have lots of tips and advice. You can buy merchandise on www.worldpokertour.com. The WPT is kind of a one-stop-shop for poker. Watch for new developments coming to our website with even more features in the fall.”

CEOCFOinterviews: Will there be tours in different countries and eventually an international championship, and how do you take advantage of the international opportunity?
Mr. Lipscomb: “Poker is hot; you may try to run from it, but it will find you. We are the WORLD POKER TOUR, so we are not just in the United States. Though most of our events are here in the U.S., we have an event in Paris at the Aviation Club De Champs, right on the Champs-Elysees. We also have two other international stops and we are talking to a couple of new sites about adding events. We conclude each season with the WPT World Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, which attracts competitors from every corner of the earth. This year our prize pool for that event alone was $10.9 million.

As far as the expansion or replication of our tour in the international market, we are looking at many opportunities. We are frequently approached by production entities, as well as broadcasters, about the prospect of creating sub-brands of our tour, as well.

As for broadcast growth with our television show, we are now seen in 67 countries and growing. We have had the same kind of impact in some of those markets as we have had in the U.S. for the Travel Channel. As we roll out globally, we are taking a three-pronged approach with our television show, consumer products and the online gaming website. We use the synergy between all three to drive people from one to the other.”

CEOCFOinterviews: What do we look for three years from now?
Mr. Lipscomb: “We look to solidify ourselves as the NBA of poker. We view that as the strong model for us. The NBA is in 200 international markets. That leaves us lots of growing room. We plan to move into as many as we can, with the ultimate goal to grow poker is an international sport.”

CEOCFOinterviews: Is there much float available for potential investors?
Mr. Lipscomb: “Everybody wants more stock than what is available. I think that is because there are many growth opportunities for this business in the near future. We continue to discuss with our Board whether we should extend the float. Part of the strategy of going public with WPTE Enterprises was to give the public that had participated in other ways-- whether playing in our event or watching the television show--the chance to have an ownership interest. That has been a positive thing for everyone involved. Just think if you would have had a small piece of the NBA when it launched--you would be very happy today.”

CEOCFOinterviews: What challenges do you see ahead?
Mr. Lipscomb: “I sometimes am asked what keeps me up at night-- and the only things that REALLY keeps me up at night are my four-year-old and two-year-old. Those are the gifts of life.

The truth is that I do not have much to worry about in this business. When you create a venture, you wonder how it will expand. The WORLD POKER TOUR literally has the whole world as a platform for expansion. And I anticipate the same terrific reception in other markets that we received in this country. The great thing about where we find ourselves today-- as opposed to three years ago-- is that I was trying to make the case everywhere that poker was something that could become mainstream. We do not have to make that case anymore because we have achieved our goal. Furthermore, the success we are having selling WPT branded products in the marketplace demonstrates people’s loyalty to the brand. They want to be part of not just the poker phenomenon, but specifically the WORLD POKER TOUR.”

CEOCFOinterviews: In closing, what would you like readers to remember about the WPT Enterprises story?
Mr. Lipscomb: “Only that it has been an extraordinary experience personally to work with all the people here at the WORLD POKER TOUR and particularly with Lyle Berman. He is one of those genius businessmen who devise a new idea each week that helps to redefine a business. It makes us better and better. We have a pretty successful team and we look forward to an even brighter future together.”

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"The great thing about where we find ourselves today-- as opposed to three years ago-- is that I was trying to make the case everywhere that poker was something that could become mainstream. We do not have to make that case anymore because we have achieved our goal. Furthermore, the success we are having selling WPT branded products in the marketplace demonstrates people’s loyalty to the brand. They want to be part of not just the poker phenomenon, but specifically the WORLD POKER TOUR.” - Steven Lipscomb

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