WPT China sign-up imminent

Judging by reports in the Asian media and through the Associated Press news network, tournament poker is coming to China despite gambling being officially frowned upon in the country.

The reports reveal that World Poker Tour Enterprises is about to sign an agreement this week with the China Leisure Sports Administrative Centre.

The partnership will "promote the sport of poker, by helping to create, expand and commercialise China's first ever national poker competition," World Poker Tour Enterprises spokesmen revealed.

The partnership agreement will run for five years, with an option to extend, the reports say. Additional details weren't given and it wasn't clear what stakes participants would play for.

China represents a different challenge to the well established and television fuelled poker boom in the West because the Communist government officially forbids gambling, categorising it as a form of criminal, anti-social behaviour along the lines of prostitution and drug use. It is not yet known how WPT managed to square this official policy with the new deal.

Former lawyer Steve Lipscomb, WPT's founder, president and CEO, was due to attend the signing ceremony at a Beijing hotel on Monday.