The WPT wasn't the only player at the table. 'On the other hand, if we end up like the NBA or the NFL, then this is an extraordinary opportunity.' 'My business plan was: 'If we're as successful as bowling or billiards we'll break even,'' he says now. So he founded the World Poker Tour (WPT). The article, coupled with the success of his show when it was released, led Lipscomb to believe there was a giant, untapped market for the game. He'd also read an article in the New York Times that said 20 million Americans were playing poker every week. In 1999, TV producer Steve Lipscomb was working on a one-hour documentary titled: 'On the Inside of The World Series of Poker.' A once frowned-upon card game now had its own share of the United States' sporting mainstream thanks to a boom in popularity that was perhaps reaching a peak. Eventually he got his glasses back on.Īs the huddle cleared and broadcaster ESPN kept rolling, everybody recognised something extraordinary had just happened.įor Esfandiari it represented the culmination of a career which began in very different circumstances a decade earlier.īut Poker itself had changed immeasurably in that time too. Somebody threw over a huge bundle of $100 bills from the stack.

He was held high in the air by the group now gathered tight around him.

Not in relief or disbelief but to save them from being crushed as his family and friends flooded in from all sides to congratulate him. When he was confirmed as the winner, he immediately took off his glasses. But he still looked like the coolest head in the room. Esfandiari was about to experience the most euphoric moment of his life. The commentators held their breath as the dealer prepared to reveal the final card. The live TV cameras were primed, the tension among fans at breaking point.

Oxford casino poker tournament