The World Poker Tour has taken the idea of "learning from the pros" to a new level. They're offering a series of instructional "Boot Camps" over the upcoming months, with the first of them to take place on an exotic island in the Caribbean. Not a bad place to do anything, and if need be, I could probably gather up my focus long enough to learn a bit about poker while enjoying the sunshine and scenery.

The first camp is scheduled for the 4th through the 8th of December, and is titled "The Battle for the Pass" because besides the words of wisdom that all event-goers get to take home, there is a pass to seats in 15 WORLD POKER TOUR (WPT) Main Events up for grabs.

The conference attendees will play in a poker tournament with the pass as a prize, so everyone gets a chance to put their new-found knowledge to use. The value on the pass package is roughly $157,000. That doesn't count any of the winnings you could generate by placing in these events either.

Pros that will be on hand for the event include:

• Mike Sexton
• T.J. Cloutier
• Phil "The Unabomber" Laak
• Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari
• Jennifer Tilly
• Chip Jett
• Michael "Grinder" Mizrachi
• Clonie Gowen
• Mark Seif
• and more . . .

For a schedule of events, you can visit the WPT's Boot Camp Site. The event is being held at the Cable Beach Resorts and Crystal Palace Casino and has an all-inclusive price of $3,995 at the door. Of course, savvy players will notice that there are online qualifiers running at several online poker rooms.

You can get a seat at the WPT Boot Camp by winning a satellite at Absolute Poker or Ultimate Bet.

The event in December is only the first in the series of WPT Boot Camps. Scheduled events include:

• Caribbean Conference - Dec. 4-8th, 2006 - Bahamas
• MGM Grand - Dec 16-17th, 2006
• Commerce Casino - Jan 20-21st, 2007
• MGM Grand - Feb 3-4th, 2007
• Reno Hilton - March 28-30th, 2007
• Borgata Casino - April 14-15th, 2007
• Borgata Casino - September 18-20th, 2007

Different poker camps will have different pros hosting the seminars, and there will of course be different event schedules.