As online poker has gone the way of the dinosaurs in the US, live poker is really where it's at and the Heartland Poker Tour, in just its third outing, has become one of the foremost successes in the business.

Already one of the top three televised poker productions stateside and viewed in more than 50 million households annually, the 2007 Tour has just completed a deal to air in 119 million homes throughout Europe and Asia, with the Tour set to take in 12 locations across America in 2007.

The Heartland Poker Tour was created for poker players in local casinos and neighbourhood card rooms. It's less brash that the World Poker Tour, and has less pull than the World Series of Poker, but has been designed and developed to give players everywhere a chance to make the Big Time.

HPT Tournaments normally run to five days with preliminary events on the first four days and the Championship event concluding on the fifth day. The elimination of the last six players, at the final table, of the Championship event is televised.

Convinced a lot of local players would like a shot at stardom, Heartland keeps the cost of entry within the reach of most people. Consequently, because there are so many participants the prize money is exciting. Add an audience, lights and TV cameras, and players in the Championship feel like they’re competing at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

The idea for the Heartland Poker Tour came appropriately out of Fargo, North Daktoa, not the bright lights of Las Vegas. It was the brainchild of Todd Anderson and Greg Lang, two television producers with a passion for poker. They were determined to create a nationwide tournament series accessible to local players and televise the final table on TV for regional viewers.

Heartland kicked-off the new 2007 season at Hooters, in Las Vegas, and then traveled to Deadwood, South Daktoa, where it made it’s first appearance at the Lucky Nugget Card Club. The final Championship event, with 186 players and a prize pool of $279,000 was won by Sam Britton, of Gillette, Wyoming, who collected $75,006 for his victory.

“I think this has been the biggest event in Deadwood since Wild Bill was shot!” was how Nugget owner Matt Ramsey described the Heartland Tournament.

Next stop for the Heartland POker Tour is the Majestic Star Casino, in Gary Indiana. It was here last fall that the HPT recorded its largest prize pool of the year, $435,000 For the complete schedule of upcoming events or results of past events, visit the HPT website at: