Joe Bartholdi Wins $3.76 Million In Fourth Annual World Poker Tour World Championship At Bellagio, Las Vegas

Davidson Matthew Turns $25 Satellite Buy-In Into $1.9 Million Second Place Finish

I have just received this press release by email:

The 2006 WPT World Championship™will be remembered in a string of superlatives – the most, biggest and first! When Joe Bartholdi, of Las Vegas, defeated the brightest poker talent from nearly 40 countries, he did so in a tournament that is going to be talked about for years. The finale to the WORLD POKER TOUR®’s Season IV drew a record-breaking 605 entrants, generated the highest ever WPT prize pool of more than $15 million, and for the first time in WPT history, awarded more than a million dollars to a player that qualified on a $25 satellite! Bartholdi pockets a coveted first prize of $3.76 million, the enviable title of WPT World Champion and a seat in the 2007 WPT World Championship at Bellagio.

The WPT World Championship's $15 million purse brings the total prize money for the 17 Season IV tournaments to a staggering $85+ million. The riveting shows, currently airing on the Travel Channel every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET/PT, have revealed the 20 newest WPT Poker Millionaires.

Champion Joe Bartholdi was cheered on by a sizable hometown crowd. His post-tournament plans include taking his cheering section out to “celebrate for a while,” and once the party ends he intends go out and “buy a house.” His friends were also heard to be talking about a Bartholdi-funded trip to the Caribbean.

Read full article about WPT World Championship's winners here.