Heartland heads to Hooters to start new season

This year's Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) season will begin and end at the same location - Hooters Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. The first tournament of the season will take place there Jan. 25-29.

"We're delighted and excited to begin the year at Hooters," said Todd Anderson, producer for the tournament. "Heartland poker players will thoroughly enjoy the tournament here."

Hooters will also play host to the HPT championship event in December to cap off the 2007 season.

The HPT, which is one of the top three televised poker productions in the United States, will have events in 14 venues across the country during 2007. The tournaments are generally five days long, with four days of preliminary events and the main event on the fifth day.

When play during the main event whittles down to a final table of nine players, the action is recorded to be televised.

According to Anderson, the HPT tournaments were viewed in more than 50 million U.S. households in 2006. This new season will also air in Europe and Asia.

With upcoming events in places like the Lucky Nugget Card Club in Deadwood, S.D., and the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, Minn., Heartland has created a tournament for players in local casinos and neighborhood poker rooms.

Buy-ins ranging from $115 to $2,500 for events also encourage just about anyone to participate and can result in some impressive prize pools. Last season one winner walked away with more than $122,000.

For more information about the tour and the 2007 events, visit www.heartlandpokertour.com.

News Added: 19 January, 2007

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