As we all know, the poker industry's most highly regarded gaming competitions are the World Series of Poker (WSOP) as well as the World Poker Tour (WPT). The WSOP, in its original form, was started by a poker lover named Tom Moore at the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nevada. Initially, the competition featured no cash prizes, but was played either for a title or a silver cup. Over the years, the WSOP has changed its format repeatedly with players winning the most generous amounts of cash. It's no wonder, therefore, that the competition has gained tremendous popularity.

The WPT is the second most prestigious poker competition in the global gaming industry. The first WPT event was staged five years ago. Today, world's most accomplished poker professionals consider it an enormous honor to participate in any WPT tournament. Among WPT winners are the most acknowledged card players of all times, including Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer and J.C. Tran. The competition is televised and syndicated globally.

However, the WSOP and the WPT no longer stand alone. Over the recent years, the global gaming industry has witnessed the launch of numerous new poker competitions, as challenging and profitable as the two aforementioned ones. The list of these newcomers includes:

Amateur Poker League

The Amateur Poker League, also known as the APL, is an amateur poker league with tournaments being held in numerous gaming venues across the United States. Interested players are welcome to join the league at any time during the season. There are no entry fees charged and no buy-ins to pay. The APL's tour features a three-phase structure: 'Monthly Venue Championship,' 'Semi-Annual Regional Championship,' and 'National Championship.' Since wagering money is strictly prohibited, APL players compete for points. The game played at APL tournaments is N/L Texas Hold 'em. The APL's official sponsor is Bluff Magazine, a prominent poker publication.

Asia Pacific Tour

The Asia Pacific Tour (APPT) was launched a year ago. It is the first major land-based competition staged in this region. Much like the popular European Poker Tour championship, APPT is sponsored by top online poker room Poker Stars. The competition's first season ran from August to December 2007. The competition featured five events staged in four different locations: Philippines, South Korea, China and Australia. The tour is the brainchild of President Jeffrey Haas as well as Director of Marketing Sarne Lightman.

Crown Australian Poker Championship

First introduced over a decade ago, the Australian Poker Championship is more commonly known as Aussie Millions. Boasting a total prize pool of over AU$7 million, the competition is staged in Melbourne's Crown Casino. In 2007, there were as many as 474 entrants who generated a AU$7,470,000 prize pool. The Final Table event had a staggering AU$10,500 buy-in. The top eighty players finished "in the money" and collected between AU$15,000 and AU$1,500,000 each. The ultimate champion of the competition was poker pro Gus Hansen who nabbed the lucrative first place prize of AU$1,500,000.

European Poker Tour

The European Poker Tour (EPT) was first launched in 2004 following the global growth in Texas Hold 'em popularity. The EPT greatly resembles the popular WPT championship. The only difference between the two competitions was that in seasons 1-3, EPT featured buy-ins nearly half the size of the WPT. This changed in the fourth season when the buy-in for most EPT tournaments was increased to €8,000. The EPT is sponsored by top poker room Poker Stars and was first created by poker pro named John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. The competition is broadcast all across Europe.

Irish Poker Open

First organized by prominent Irish bookmaker back in 1981, the Irish Poker Open is the second longest running N/L Texas Hold 'em competition in the world after the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Originally, the competition took place at a gaming establishment called Eccentric Club in Dublin, later, however, it moved to the city's Merrion Casino. Ever since it was first introduced the Irish Poker Open has been staged over Easter weekend each year. In 2005, popular online poker room Paddy Power Poker started sponsoring the competition. The competition largely contributed to the surge in poker popularity across Europe. The Irish Poker Open 2007 Main Event boasted a €2 million guaranteed prize pool. Marthy Smith, the winner of the event, collected a first place prize of €650,000.

National Heads-up Poker Championship

Launched in 2005, National Heads-up Poker Championship is an annual poker competition where U.S. poker lovers play face-to-face seeking to establish the best heads-up poker player in the gaming industry. Participation in the event is limited with only 64 players entering yearly. Players may enter via an invitation only. The competition features a gaming format modeled after college basketball tournaments. Players who win a match are allowed to advance to the next round. The fortunate player who manages to win six matches is announced champion. The 2007 National Heads-up Poker Championship winner is poker pro Paul Wasicka.

Online Series of Poker

Held in 2005, the Online Series of Poker (OSOP) was the first poker competition in online gaming history to be staged across a several online cards rooms. The list of Internet poker resources that hosted the Online Series of Poker events includes Party Poker, Ultimate Bet, Poker Room, Absolute Poker as well as Golden Palace Poker. Each poker room staged two OSOP events. Any poker lover eligible to play at the aforementioned poker rooms was allowed to participate in as many of the ten tournaments as they wanted. The competition's Final Table event was held live at the Tramp Taj Mahal Casino & Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Greg Langford was eventually crowned champion of the 2005 Online Series of Poker.

Poker Dome Challenge

The Poker Dome Challenge was a series of speed poker tournaments which lasted 43 weeks. The 2006-2007 competition offered a grand prize of $1,000,000. The series featured single table tournaments with six participants each. Five of the six competitors qualified via daily freerolls staged by MansionPoker.net. The sixth one came from the Nation Pub Poker League. Among professional poker players who took part in the Poker Dome Challenge series were Tony G, Perry Friedman as well as Dennis Waterman. In accordance with speed poker play structure, each tournament participant was given 15 seconds to act on a hand. Betting was P/L before the flop and N/L after the flop. When the action turned heads-up the betting became all N/L.

Poker Million

The Poker Million is a major poker competition that was launched in 2000 on the Isle of Man. The competition is currently being sponsored by prominent online poker room Ladbrokes. Throughout the tournament, sponsored poker pros battle against players who qualified through Ladbrokes' online poker website. The first Poker Million was won by John Duthie, an English TV director. Ever since it was first created the competition has been televised by Sky Sports. In 2007, Poker Million's first place prize stood at $1,000,000. It was nabbed by longtime poker pro Joe Beevers.

Professional Poker Tour

A spin off of the popular World Poker Tour (WPT) competition, the Professional Poker Tour (PPT) is a series of televised poker events. Participation in PPT tournaments is allowed only to highly-regarded poker players with established reputation as accomplished professionals. The competition was first launched in 2005 and enjoyed vast popularity while on air. American actor Matt Corboy serves as the lead commentator. Among PPT participants are such prominent poker pros as Josh Arie, Joe Beevers, Lyle Berman, Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Mike Caro, Johny Chan, T.J. Cloutier, Barbara Enright and Antonio Esfandiari.

William Hill Poker Grand Prix

The William Hill Poker Grand Prix is a poker competition sponsored by the operator of the popular William Hill online card room. The competition features poker pros as well as amateurs battling with each other over the coveted jackpot. Thus far, there have been two tournaments held one in 2006 and the other in 2007. The William Hill Grand Prix competition runs according to the following format: seven preliminary matches are played, with the winner of each match going to the Grand Final. The second-place finisher goes to a semi-final round, the winner of which also goes to the Grand Final. The 2006 tournament winner was poker wizard Phil Laak. The 2007 William Hill Poker Grand Prix first place prize was nabbed by Martin Wendt.

World Championship of Online Poker

The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is an online poker competition sponsored by the reputed online card room PokerStars. The WCOOP was launched in 2002 as the online counterpart of the prestigious World Series of Poker (WSOP) competition. Much like WSOP players, WCOOP participants battle each other in a variety of games. Among the games played at the online poker competition are L, N/L and P/L Texas Hold 'em, 7-Card Stud and 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, Razz, P/L Omaha High and L Omaha Hi/Lo as well as HORSE. The 2007 competition also featured 5-Card Draw and 2-7 Triple Draw. The competition's main event is N/L Texas Hold 'em. Apart from a hefty amount of money, the competition's winner also collects a personally engraved 14 karat gold bracelet.

World Speed Poker Open

The World Speed Poker Open (WSPO) is an international poker competition. The WSPO tournaments are staged under the rules of speed poker. In speed poker, each game participant is offered only 15 seconds to act on his hand before he gets disqualified. Twice per tournament, players receive an additional 30 second time-out. There are usually two dealers in speed poker tournaments. In 2005, the competition was won by Oliver Boyce, a relatively anonymous poker player. Boyce took home a lucrative amount of £50,000.