Another entrant into the bar poker scene in South Florida: The World Poker Tour Amateur Poker League.

The league carries the "World Poker Tour" brand name, and is in at five locations, according to its web site, mostly in Palm Beach County.

In bar poker, players meet at a pub or restaurant and play for free for points or prizes. It's not gambling, according to state laws, because the participants aren't risking anything. Bars like it because it brings business; players like it because it's a way to socialize and learn the game.

South Florida Regional manager Jason Horn said the league has also recently awarded trips to
Mexico and Las Vegas and custom golf clubs.

The players participating in WPTAPL events earn WPTAPL points. Horn says the points qualify players for regional tournaments, and the regional winners will qualify to compete in the
national championship, for the chance to win a $10,000 seat into a WPT
main event.

Toby Smith of Pompano Beach won a spot in the Season Pass event Dec. 1-7 in the Dominican Republic. He competed in the national championship in Orlando in April.

For more information about the World Poker Tour Amateur Poker League or the WPT Boot Camp, visit www.wptapl.com.

WPT also gives away seats into the WPT Celebrity Invitational tournament, an invite-only tournament where top poker pros and Hollywood celebrities compete for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and a $25,000 seat into the WPT World Championship. Every point earned translates into rewards that can be exchanged for prizes from T-Shirts to Flat Screen
TV’s to WPT events, Horn says.