WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WPTE) has been on a steady decline since the Unlawful Internet Gambling act of 2006 (UIGEA). The stock has fallen 70% in the last year.
Attendance in the U.S. is down in most tournaments, and ratings for the premiere poker shows including the WPT have also dipped. Poker is no longer seen as this “gold mine” amongst the mainstream public and Wall Street. There has been a lull in mainstream interest (a lot of that can definitely be credited to the UIGEA to some degree).
WPTE 1 Year Chart:

Online poker is arguably the catalyst that started the poker craze in this decade – a lot of players just aren’t comfortable with going to a brick-and-mortar card room to play.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) was passed as an attachment to the Port Security Bill of 2006.  The UIGEA was attached at the last moment before the election recess, by then Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, knowing that almost no one on the House-Senate Conference Committees had an opportunity to read it.
You should be keeping an eye on poker and gambling stocks for 2 reason:

Internet gambling in the United States was effectively banned last October when President George W. Bush signed legislation outlawing gaming financial transactions. -End of Reuters story

Frank is openly opposed to the UIGEA and holds a powerful position as the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services. He railed against UIGEA’s passage last October because he believes the law is an invasion of privacy.

The WSOP Final Table Delay
From pokernews.com:
By now, everyone in poker has heard about the new format for this year’s WSOP Main Event. The final table will be delayed several months to be shown “nearly live” on ESPN. It’s a bold and controversial proposal, surrounded by rumors and wild theories.

The demographics for televised poker have been dropping in recent years, and that affects everyone in the poker world, from Harrah’s and ESPN to PokerStars and Full Tilt to the grinders in the cash games who have fewer fresh fish to feed on. This change is designed to increase the buzz around the final table of the WSOP  Main Event in an attempt to put it on par with other major “sports” championships. (While poker isn’t actually a sport, the fans watch it in much the same way.) If the TV ratings for poker continue to fall, we face the possibility of losing poker on TV, except for late-night paid-for specials.
The proponents of this plan claim that it will reinvigorate televised poker, draw new fans to the game, and potentially create another Moneymaker-style poker boom that would boost the entire industry. (Is there anyone in poker who didn’t benefit from the post-Moneymaker boom?) The detractors of this plan claim that this delay could kill the WSOP — or worse, kill some of the final nine players.

See the whole article here.

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