With the World Series of Poker championships placing poker firmly
in the media headlines earlier this month, the timing was thought
by many industry observers to be right for poker news and announcements.
One announcement that really grabbed everyone's attention was a report
that one of the best known poker legends, Doyle
Brunson had offered to buy control of Steve Lipscomb's World
Poker Tour for $700 million. Speculation was that Brunson was
financially backed by some big poker company names, although this
was never clarified.
The offer had a deadline less than a week ahead, and although WPT
were taken by surprise their executives say they attempted to professionally
assess the offer by requesting more detail. Surprisingly, it seems
that Mr. Brunson failed to meet their requests and the offer was allowed
to expire. However, news of the offer initially caused a surge in
the WPT share price, which then turned southward as it became clear
that the proposed deal was in trouble.
There was speculation that the offer was not sincere and this week
angry complaints were lodged with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
triggering an official investigation into what some Wall Street analysts
suspect may have been a bogus offer. The results will make for interesting
reading when made public.