World Poker Congress 2007 Opens in Malta Today

Sue Schneider of Clarion Gaming opened the 2007 World Poker Congress today in Malta, saying that one of the challenges in arranging poker and gaming related conferences is finding a friendly and hospitable environment, and that Malta meets both of these points.

Mario Galea from the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) of Malta was then introduced and said that Malta is becoming one of the most advanced jurisdictions in which to base poker related activities. Highlights of his talk included:

The opening keynote address was next, which was given by Jeffrey Pollack of Harrah's Entertainment and Steve Lipscomb of WPT Enterprises.

Jeffrey Pollack was unable to attend in person. On his recorded presentation he gave an overview of the success of the 2007 World Series of Poker and the newly introduced World Series of Poker Europe. For 2008 WSOP Pollack said amongst other things the following will happen:

He finished his talk by saying his aim is that "Every year we will do better than the year before."

Next Steve Lipscomb took the stage. In his presentation he outlined the phases of growth in the poker industry over the past few years. Then, looking to the future, he discussed 3 scenarios and what may happen if they take place. The scenarios were:

Further details of these talks will be available in a more in-depth article coming soon on Pokerpages.com

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