WORLD POKER TOUR® PARTNERS WITH THE CREATIVE COALITION FOR 5TH ANNUAL WPT CELEBRITY INVITATIONAL

The Invitation-Only Celebrity Tournament Will Take Place at Commerce Casino
in Los Angeles March 3–5

LOS ANGELES (January 29, 2007) –WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: WPTE) today announced that it has partnered for the first time with The Creative Coalition (TCC) for the fifth anniversary of the most glamorous stop on the poker circuit—the World Poker Tour ® (WPT) Celebrity Invitational.

The red carpet, invitation-only event welcomes Hollywood’s hottest celebrities and poker’s best who battle it out in a three-day Texas Hold ‘Em tournament for charity, cash and bragging rights. The last celebrity standing in the tournament receives a $10,000 donation to their favorite charity, while the winner of the tournament receives $225,000 in cash and a $25,000 seat in the WPT World Championship in April, 2007 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Additionally, the WPT will donate $10,000 to TCC.

TCC is the leading 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community. Founded in 1989 by prominent members of the creative community, The Creative Coalition is dedicated to educating its members on issues of public importance, primarily the First Amendment, public education and arts advocacy. Headquartered in New York City, The Creative Coalition also has offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“This strategic partnership with The Creative Coalition is truly an ideal step to elevate this event in our fifth anniversary season,” said Steve Lipscomb, founder and CEO of WPTE. “We look forward to working with and watching the TCC in action—in addition to being renowned for their amazing events, they are such a well-respected organization rich in entertainment history and education. We are excited to see the best Celebrity Invitational yet.” 

About WPTE
WPT Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: WPTE) is a company engaged in the creation of internationally branded entertainment and consumer products driven by the development, production, and marketing of televised programming based on gaming themes. WPTE is the creator of the World Poker Tour®, a television show based on a series of high-stakes poker tournaments that airs on the Travel Channel in the United States and more than 150 markets globally. With the WPT in its fifth season, WPTE has launched a second series on the Travel Channel, the Professional Poker Tour™, which focuses on the play of poker’s leading stars. WPT also operates a real-money online gaming website, www.wptonline.com, which prohibits wagers from players in the U.S. and other restricted jurisdictions. WPTE currently licenses its brand to companies in the business of poker equipment and instruction, apparel, publishing, electronic and wireless entertainment, DVD/home entertainment, casino games, and giftware. The company is also engaged in the sale of corporate sponsorships. For show information, tools for improving poker play, and other WPT news, fans may log on to www.worldpokertour.com. WPTE is a majority owned subsidiary of Lakes Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: LACO). Photos and media information can be found online at: www.worldpokertour.com/media

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The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this press release (as well as information included in oral statements or other written statements made or to be made by WPT Enterprises, Inc.) contains statements that are forward-looking, such as statements relating to the expansion of WPTE’s brand licensing, the development of new television and film projects, the development of WPTE corporate sponsors and other business development activities, as well as statements regarding other capital spending, financing sources and the effects of competition. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of WPTE. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, WPTE’s significant dependence on the Travel Channel as a source of revenue; difficulty of predicting the growth of our online casino business, which is a relatively new industry with an increasing number of market entrants; the increased time, cost and expense of developing and maintaining WPTE’s own online gaming software; the potential that our television programming will fail to maintain a sufficient audience; the risk that competitors with greater financial resources or marketplace presence might develop television programming that would directly compete with WPTE’s television programming; the risk that WPT may not be able to protect its entertainment concepts, current and future brands and other intellectual property rights; risks associated with future expansion into new or complementary businesses; the termination or impairment of WPTE’s relationships with key licensing and strategic partners; and WPTE’s dependence on its senior management team. For more information, review WPTE’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Lyndsay LaGree/WPT PR
323 330 9876
llagree@worldpokertour.com

Barb Horvath/TCC PR
212-614-2527
bhorvath@thecreativecoalition.org