U.S. poker icon Doyle Brunson has launched a $700 million cash bid for WPT Enterprises Inc.

(Nasdaq: WPTE - news ), which owns the popular World Poker Tour television show, the company said on Friday.

News of the unsolicited bid, made by Brunson with a team of financial backers, sent WPT shares surging 55.4 percent to a record high of $27.60 on Nasdaq.

The bid offers a 100 percent premium over WPT's closing price of $17.75 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of about $357 million.

"This was a total surprise," company spokeswoman Jackie Lapin told Reuters. "The board will review this bid."

She did not know when the board planned to meet. The bid was received on Thursday.

Brunson, one of the best known U.S. professional poker players, was not immediately available for comment.

West Hollywood, California-based WPT Enterprises, which was founded in March 2002, went public in August last year at $8 a share, raising $32 million. Its shares rose to their previous high of $24.40 last month.

The company develops products based on gaming themes. World Poker Tour airs on the Travel Channel in the United States and more than 60 markets worldwide.

About 70 percent of the company is owned by two stakeholders; Lakes Entertainment Inc. owns about 62 percent of the company and co-founder and Chief Executive Steven Lipscomb owns about 8.2 percent, according to company data from April.

Brunson, 71, has won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) twice -- in 1976 and 1977 -- and this month won his 10th WSOP bracelet which are awarded to winners of tournaments on the World Series of Poker circuit.

About 25 years ago he cowrote "Super/System," which explained his secrets to winning poker.