The World Poker Tour (WPT) released its Season X television schedule Wednesday, circling February 12th as the jump-off point for the series. The first episode, along with all subsequent episodes, will air at both 8:00pm and 11:00pm local time.
The season, which will once again be broadcast on Fox Sports Net (FSN), will consist of 37 episodes, up 11 from Season IX. Part of the change is an increase in the number of episodes per tournament; the story of each tour stop will now be told across three episodes instead of just two. Strong ratings were likely another catalyst for the added episodes, as ratings increased 30 percent from Season VIII to Season IX.
“The steadfast effort put into revamping the World Poker Tour last season was rewarded with resounding fan and viewer support,” said WPT President Adam Pliska in a press release. “For WPT Season X, we’re debuting more innovations and giving our audience even more reasons to tune in each week.”
One of those innovations is a new segment called WPT Champions Cup in which some of the most memorable moments from WPT final tables will be relived. Another new segment, On the Road, will give viewers a sort of “behind the curtain” look at the lives of the WPT cast.
Speaking of cast, poker icons Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten will again be the voices behind the microphones, just as they have been since the very first televised episode of the World Poker Tour. Kimberly Lansing is back as the WPT Anchor, while Tony “Bond18” Dunst returns as the analyst on Raw Deal.
The first episode of the new season will be a special Season X preview, setting viewers up for the months to come. The Legends of Poker will be the first tournament to air, running three consecutive Sundays from February 19th through March 4th. The season will continue from there with 11 more tournaments, each consisting of three weekly episodes. All tour stops in the United States will be broadcast except for the first Jacksonville and Seminole Hard Rock events. The second stops at both locations will be shown. Two different tournaments at the WPT World Championship will be aired: the $25,000 World Championship itself as well as the $100,000 Super High Roller event.
For those who miss the Sunday broadcasts, each episode will re-air every Wednesday at 11:00pm local time.
The complete World Poker Tour Season X television schedule is as follows:
Feb. 12 – Season X Special
Feb. 19-Mar. 4 – Legends of Poker
Mar. 11-25 – WPT Grand Prix de Paris
Apr. 1-15 – Borgata Poker Open
Apr. 22-May 6 – World Poker Final
May 13-27 – Five Diamond World Poker Classic
June 3-17 – WPT Venice Grand Prix
June 24-July 8 – LA Poker Classic
July 15-29 – Bay 101 Shooting Star
Aug. 5-19 – Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Aug. 26-Sep. 9 – WPT Jacksonville
Sep. 16-30 – WPT World Championship Super High Roller
Oct. 7-21 – WPT World Championship
