The World Series of Poker has ended, and there are still several World Poker Tour events remaining. So let us take a look at a poker tournament alternative.

The Heartland Poker Tour will start a league in September.

According to HPT publicity releases, the league will be designed to "bring more poker to the people."

The league will run from September to December and use a point system to record results at participating casinos.

According to a report on www.pokerlistings.com, each casino will name a league champion after 12 weeks of competition. A league champion will receive a package worth $2,700 and a seat in the televised Heartland Poker Tour Championship at the Majestic Star Casino in Gary, Ind., Dec. 1-9.

At the Majestic Star, players will be after the winner's share of a $1 million prize pool, as well as television exposure.

"We think a national poker league will succeed for the same reasons bowling, dart and pool leagues do," Todd Anderson, the Tour co-producer, told PokerListings. "People get a chance to compete in a fun environment for small stakes, but ultimately, they have a chance to test their poker skills under lights and cameras for huge sums of money."

According to the release, weekly tournaments will have relatively small buy-ins ($60 on average).

On the Heartland Poker Tour Web site (www.heart-landpokertour.com), the motto of the league is "Real People ... Un-Real Money!" The league will be supported by the national television brand of the Heartland Poker Tour. Each week, 97 percent of the prize pool is returned to the players, with 3 percent going to dealer tokes.

Anderson and long-time friend Greg Lang -- both independent television producers -- used their collective experiences in broadcast television, regional and national business development, marketing and branding to launch the HPT.

Remaining HPT events in 2007 are at :

The Grand Casino Mille Lacs, Minn., Aug. 20-27;

Northern Lights Casino, Walker, Minn., Sept. 12-19;

Golden Gates Casino, Blackhawk, Colo., Oct. 8-14;

Lucky Nugget Card Club, Deadwood, S.D., Oct. 15-21;

Meskwaki Casino, Tama, Iowa, Oct. 31-Nov. 3;

Casino Del Sol, Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 11-18, and

The HPT Championships, Dec. 1-9, at the Majestic Star Casino in Gary, Ind.

The tour is contemplating expanding to Tunica, Miss.; Oklahoma, and Denver. It has already sanctioned a tournament in Verona, N.Y., at the Turning Stone Casino. The tour was at Gary, Ind., for a major tournament last week and other plans include holding events in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and of course, Nevada.

The number of entries has ranged from 200 to 400 players an event, with buy-ins ranging from $300 to $500, not including satellite tournaments.