The Professional Poker Tour (PPT) was a series of televised poker tournament

Poker tournament

A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table , and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tables...

s, spinning off from the World Poker Tour

World Poker Tour

The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...

 (WPT) television series. It billed itself as the first professional poker league, and was limited to players who have established themselves on the World Poker Tour

World Poker Tour

The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...

, World Series of Poker

World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...

, or major participation on the poker circuit.

Matt Corboy

Matt Corboy

Matt Corboy is an American actor.Corboy was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and grew up there, before leaving to attend Colorado State University, where he earned a degree in business....

 was the lead commentator, with poker pro Mark Seif

Mark Seif

Mark Seif is an Egyptian American attorney and professional poker player.-Personal life:Seif was born in Cairo, Egypt before moving with his family at the age of two, to Southern California...

 as color commentator and Kaye Han as floor reporter. The first season, taped in 2004-2005, began airing regularly on Travel Channel

Travel Channel

The Travel Channel is a satellite and cable television channel that is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, US. It features documentaries and how-to shows related to travel and leisure around the United States and throughout the world. Programming has included shows in African animal safaris,...

 on July 5, 2005 and left the air in 2007.

Television format

Events were telecast across five shows each. The first four shows were labeled as quarters, from 1st Quarter to 4th Quarter, reflecting early-round play in the event. The final six-player table was the fifth show of the cycle.

Qualifying

These tournaments were invitation-only freerolls (no entry fee, but only certain players were invited).

First season qualifiers

• All WPT winners
• Any player that made more than one WPT final table in a single season
• Top three places in WPT Championship
• Top ten places on WPT Season 2 Player of the Year list
• All previous winners of the World Series of Poker
  World Series of Poker
  The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...
  
   (WSOP) Main Event
• Top three places in 2003 and 2004 WSOP Main Event
• Top ten places on CardPlayer Player of the Year list
• Top ten places on Phil Hellmuth Jr
  Phil Hellmuth
  Phil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...
  
   Champion of the Year list
• Members of the World Poker Tour Walk of Fame
• Members of the Poker Hall of Fame
  Poker Hall of Fame
  The Poker Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional poker playing in the United States. Founded and located in Las Vegas, Nevada, it was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino, to preserve the names and legacies of the world's greatest poker players and to serve...
  
  
• Fourth, fifth and sixth place finish in WPT Championship
• Fourth, fifth and sixth place finish in WSOP Main Event during 2003 or 2004
• Players selected by the PPT Advisory Committee
• Top ten places on Poker Europa List for 2004
• WPT commentators

Second season

The PPT was canceled after one season. Events that comprised the PPT in 2005 were integrated into the WPT schedule in 2007-08.

Results

Event	Winner	Prize	Other Finalists
World Poker Finals	John Juanda John Juanda Johnson "John" Juanda is a Chinese Indonesian professional poker player based in Marina del Rey, California. Juanda lives in Los Angeles.-Personal life:...	$225,000	Chris Bigler Chris Bigler Chris Bigler is a Swiss retired businessman, now a professional poker player, based in Las Vegas, Nevada.... Ron Rose Ron Rose Ron Rose is an American poker player from Dayton, Ohio, and a two time World Poker Tour Champion with a World Series of Poker bracelet.-Early Life and Career:... Dan Harrington Dan Harrington Dan Harrington is a professional poker player, best known for winning the main event world championship at the 1995 World Series of Poker. He has earned one World Poker Tour title, two WSOP bracelets, and over six million dollars in tournament cashes in his poker career... Jennifer Harman Jennifer Harman Jennifer C. Harman-Traniello is an American professional poker player.-Early life:Harman was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. She started playing poker in 1972 at the age of eight... Casey Kastle
LA Poker Classic	Erick Lindgren Erick Lindgren Erick A. Lindgren is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Poker Tour titles, one World Series of Poker bracelet, and more than seven million dollars in tournament earnings during his poker career.-Poker career:He won his first major tournament at the Bellagio in 2002 and...	$225,000	Chris Bigler Daniel Negreanu Daniel Negreanu Daniel Negreanu is a Canadian professional poker player. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles. He is currently ranked second in the all-time career earnings list and is the star of poker game show Million Dollar Challenge. He plays a big... Dennis Waterman Dennis Waterman (poker player) Dennis Waterman is a professional poker player and writer. He has over 30 years of poker experience with reported career winnings that exceed $1,000,000.... Asher Derei Allen Krell
Bay 101	Tom McEvoy Tom McEvoy Thomas K. McEvoy is a professional poker player and author. He is best known for his win in the 1983 World Series of Poker main event.-Early life:...	$225,000	Marsha Waggoner Marsha Waggoner Marsha Waggoner is an American professional poker player who lives in Los Angeles, California.Waggoner has finished in the money at 20 World Series of Poker events as of 2010... Alfredo "Toto" Leonidas Toto Leonidas Alfredo C. "Toto" Leonidas is an American Poker player with over $3,200,000 in live tournament lifetime winnings. His 24 cashes as the WSOP account for $812,218 of those winnings.... Casey Kastle Paul Magriel Paul Magriel Paul David Magriel Jr. is an American professional backgammon player, poker player and author based in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Chess:Paul was New York State Junior Chess Champion at the age of 19, while a student at New York University.... Hoyt Corkins Hoyt Corkins Hoyt Bricken Corkins is an American professional poker player.He also has three children in Chelsei Corkins, Brittney Corkins, and Ashley Roundtre...
3rd Annual Five Star World Poker Classic	Lee Markholt Lee Markholt Lee Markholt Jr. is a professional poker player from Eatonville, Washington. He previously worked as a meat cutter for a family business and has been playing poker professionally for more than 13 years....	$225,000	Barry Shulman Barry Shulman Barry Shulman is an American poker player who has enjoyed success in competitive poker tournaments over the past 15 years, and is the CEO of CardPlayer Magazine.-Life and career:... Doyle Brunson Doyle Brunson Doyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to... Chris Bjorin Chris Bjorin Christer "Chris" Björin is a Swedish professional poker player, now based in London, England. Throughout his career, Björin has kept a relatively low profile and avoided many televised poker tournaments and interviews.-Poker:... Dan Heimiller Dan Heimiller Daniel Heimiller in is an American professional poker player who won the ½ Hold'em - ½ Seven-Card Stud event at the 2002 World Series of Poker. His total live tournament winnings exceed $2.2 million.... Erick Lindgren
Mirage Poker Showdown	Ted Forrest Ted Forrest Ted Forrest is an American professional poker player, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada.- Tournament Wins:...	$225,000	Randy Jensen David Levi David Levi (poker player) David Levi is an Israeli professional poker player and former professional footballer who in his poker career has won over $2.6 million in live tournaments.... Tom Franklin Tom Franklin "Captain" Tom Franklin is an American professional poker player born in Fresno, California.Franklin's poker career began in the 1970s. His first in the money cash at the World Series of Poker occurred in 1990, finishing 24th in the $10,000 no limit hold'em championship event... Chris Tsiprailidis Chris Tsiprailidis "Syracuse" Christos Tsiprailidis is a professional poker player, based in Syracuse, New York.Before turning to poker as his career, Tsiprailidis worked as a chef and as a soccer player.... Blair Rodman Blair Rodman Blair Rodman is an American professional poker player, based in Las Vegas, Nevada.Rodman has been playing poker professionally since 1985, when he quit his job dealing craps....