Players Tour:

Similar to the Professional Golfers Association, we will have televised/sponsored events. Purses will be provided by sponsors. Exempt and non-exempt players will be included in 3 or 4 day events.

The American Poker Association will sponsor 40 or so tournaments per year with purses of $2,000,000 to $5,000,000 per event paid out to approximately the top 50%. This format would allow players to play for money provided by our advertisers and sponsors like PGA players do. As we see it, this is a new frontier with huge potential. The American Poker Association would promote advertising by members during televised events. Corporate logos on hats, shirts, etc. will not only be allowed, but encouraged.

The events would be televised on major networks, cable networks, and The Poker Channel, Inc. The main events would be small, 400 member/players, featuring 300 exempt players and 100 qualifiers. Similar to the PGA, we would have a “qualifying school” yearly to determine the exempt players and local qualifying for the 100 non-exempt players for each event. The entry would be free for exempt players; the qualifiers would pay an entry fee into the qualifying event. The prize money will be provided by sponsors, advertisers, and the TV rights.

In addition we will sponsor a series (up to 100) of smaller "mini-tour" events nationwide. These events will receive some financial support from the major events and from local advertisers and regional TV coverage. These regional events will not only have fine payouts due to the advertising and local TV coverage money added to the prize pool but will be a stepping stone to the big tour. A local win earns an exempt spot in the next main event. Three wins in a year earns full exemption on the main tour. Leading money winners on the “mini” earn an exempt spot for the next year on the big tour. This is just a first draft of how it might work when we get going.

We, the players, are the single most important commodity in the world of tournament poker. We should control it and benefit from our efforts, but we cannot do it unless we unite! We realize that the American Poker Association tour is not going to start off with $5,000,000 purses and 30 events a year but we feel this is a goal we can achieve within five years.