Doyle Brunson and backers to buy WPT??

$700M ANTED IN POKER DEAL BIG PLAY.

By RICHARD WILNER
Poker icon Doyle Brunson may be playing for the biggest pot of his life: the entire World Poker Tour.

http://www.nypost.com/business/49449.htm


WPTE Brunson to bid $700M for WPTE, says the NY Post (17.75 )
Details of the bid are sketchy though poker icon Doyle Brunson said yesterday that he and a team of financial backers have launched a $700M cash offer for the company. The unsolicited offer is a 100% premium to the closing price of $17.75. Brunson told the Post he knew little about the timing of the offer or if it was truly submitted. A spokeswoman for WPTE indicated late yesterday that the company had received an offer.

brunson is so rich, its amazing how far he came from illegal homegames in the stone age to his wealth today.

WPT Enterprises Confirms Receipt of Unsolicited Bid
Friday July 8, 12:24 pm ET


LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 2005--WPT Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: WPTE - News) today announced that it had received an unsolicited offer to acquire the company. The offer states that it is for $700 million but does not specify terms. The company is attempting to verify the credibility of the offer in order to evaluate it.

Ehhhh Brunson is well off, I don't think he has 700 million lieing around, my guess is that only a very very very tiny fraction of that is him. It might be his idea, but to be honest it sounds like someone else is doing everything and he is just the faceplate. After all... it makes a good headline right? Doyle buys WPT!

Of course I have no facts to go on. That is pure speculation. I just don't know why a 70 year old would buy something that big.

yeah but that sounds about right. He's rich but not THAT rich.

Last Price 26.50
Today's Change +8.75 (+49.30%)

Looks like it's going to be a little more now after this news.

the news came out during the day, the stock has reacted already. It's interesting that it closed at a 24% discount to the deal price ($34.80). The market is saying it will probably fall through for some reason. (probably because WPT won't accept offer)

Of course I have no facts to go on. That is pure speculation. I just don't know why a 70 year old would buy something that big.

he got offered a chance to get in on it back when it was starting, maybe he is just trying to make up for passing up a great thing.

at least im fairly certain that was him.

NEW YORK, July 11 (Reuters) - Gaming company WPT Enterprises Inc. (WPTE.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it would not seek an extension beyond a Tuesday deadline to consider a $700 million takeover offer received from a group of investors led by U.S. poker icon Doyle Brunson.

WPTE's Chief Executive Steven Lipscomb said the company had been unable to get any firm details about the offer received last Thursday, but the bid's term sheet said the offer expired on Tuesday at 5.30 p.m. with a one-week extension provision.

"At this point, without any further information, we would let it expire," Lipscomb told Reuters. "When the offer arrived last Thursday we were not looking to sell the World Poker Tour and we are more than happy to just get back to business."

the whole thing seems shady, very strange how this was done.

I wonder i we'll ever know what the heck happened, there were rumors thur and fri that we would see a new bid over the weekend...


Motley Fool
WPT Enterprises Bluffed Out
Friday July 15, 10:40 am ET
By Lawrence Meyers


Q: When is a takeover bid not a takeover bid?
A: When there's no real money behind it.

That's apparently the scenario that sent shares of World Poker Tour Enterprises (Nasdaq: WPTE - News) soaring July 8, only to have them subsequently fall off the following week.

The whole thing seems like double dealing to me. On July 7, WPT Enterprises received an unsolicited bid for the company from the Las Vegas-based law firm of Goodman and Chesnoff, supposedly representing an unnamed group of investors led by legendary poker player Doyle Brunson. The company released this information on July 8, and the stock roared up from about $18 to more than $28. But right away, it was apparent that something was amiss. The $700 million offer should have valued the company at closer to $34 a share. So why the big gap?

The WPTE board called Goodman and Chesnoff to verify the offer and to get some additional information. What the board got was worse than silence. Not only did the law firm not offer any additional information, but it also backed away from the whole deal on July 8, without providing any explanation.

WPTE released further information on July 11, stating that it had contacted Brunson to get more information and that he "suggested that WPTE should not expect any further contact regarding the offer."

What the heck went on here? I'm sure the folks at Lakes Entertainment (Nasdaq: LACOE - News), which owns 62% of WPTE, were left scratching their heads.

One thing is certain -- WPTE stock flew and then plummeted when the buyout offer dissipated as quickly as a mirage in the Vegas desert. Was the offer a fraud? A new twist on the old "pump and dump" scheme? Or was there real money behind the offer that suddenly dried up for as-yet-unknown reasons?

In my years of watching the markets, I've never seen an offer made to buy a company with no details included in the bid. Something just doesn't add up. Until the full details become clear, we can only speculate on the reasons behind the phantom offer.

that's awesome

bet there were some happy investors that made a nice buck off this shenanigan ;)