February 13 2012, Donnie Peters

Competition at the Epic Poker League is top notch, the prize pools have plenty of money added and the structures are extremely player friendly. In 2011, the EPL held its first three events in August, September and December with plans for the fourth to be held in early 2012.

It’s been some time since the last EPL event took place in Las Vegas at The Palms Casino Resort. The fourth event of the first season was set to take place at the end of January and early February, but has been moved to a to-be-determined date, mainly at the request of the players. One thing the EPL strives to do is cater to the players. Here is the Commissioner Annie Duke’s Letter to the EPL members about the fourth event.

Prior to Event 3, and even more so during Event 3, we received a lot of player feedback about the Event 4 schedule that extends over January and February (as it stands now, the fourth Pro/Am sits ten days in front of the fourth Main Event). We have heard you loud and clear that the 10-day break is not ideal from a player perspective – especially for those who have not yet completed their Pro/Am and/or Charity Event requirement. So, in response to your clear feedback, we have made the decision to move Event 4 away from the January and February dates to later in the spring and at a time that will allow us to run the Pro/Am and Charity Events during the same week as the Main Event.

We are working to set new dates that do not conflict with the global tournament schedule in the coming months and that fit with casino space availability. We will have new dates to announce after the New Year, but we felt it was best to let all of you know – as soon as possible – so that you can plan your schedules accordingly.

Annie Duke

Commissioner, Epic Poker League

Still, many fans of the game and media members working within the industry are anxiously waiting the fourth event. For one, many of us want to see the EPL succeed and continue to work on bringing poker into the mainstream. Much like professional golf has the PGA Tour, building a selective tour for poker is something the game needs.

All must not be forgotten about the EPL, however. Season One still has one event left to be completed and then there is the 27-player $1,000,000 Championship Freeroll, which is set for February 13 through 14, 2012, although subject to change. With the EPL not being in the news so much as of late and, right now, no event to look forward to in the near future, we can’t forget about the tour.

As it stands now, 32 players have cashed in the first three events. Eight of them – Erik Seidel, Jason Mercier, Isaac Baron, Noah Schwartz, Adam Levy, Amit Makhija, Hafiz Khan and Matt Glantz – have cashed twice in hopes of solidifying themselves in the top 27 in order to make it into the Championship Freeroll. Here are the complete standings after three events.

With the top 27 players getting seats into the Championship Freeroll, both Amnon Filippi and Sorel Mizzi are on the edge. Because the two are tied at the bottom of the qualifying section, there are actually 28 players in the top 27. PokerNews reached out to the EPL for tie-breaker information and was told that in the case of a tie, the EPL would let all tied players compete in the Championship Freeroll.

There’s still one more $20,000 Main Event to go, meaning some of these players sitting in the top 27 could fall out while others could jump in. In the first three events, an average of 14 players cashed. The pressure will really be on the players who are sitting on the leaderboard but outside the top 27. Right now, there are six of them – Ted Lawson, Sam Trickett, Tim West, Hoyt Corkins, Dan Fleyshman and Justin Bonomo. It will be interesting to see if and how these standings affect their play along with those who are just barely in the top 27. Our estimated guess is that anyone sitting above and including Matt Glantz should be safe for a spot in the Championship Freeroll.

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December 25 2011, Eric Ramsey

Jeffrey Pollack

In 2009, the exit of the Commissioner of the World Series of Poker put Jeffrey Pollack on our list as the fifth biggest headline maker of the year. Soon thereafter, he took on the role of executive chairman for Professional Bull Riders (PBR), but it seemed a relative certainty that we’d seem him return to the felt in good time.

Two years after his departure from the game, Pollack finds himself back on our list and surrounded by a cast that contains a few familiar characters from the poker’s elite. During the course of 2010, Pollack was busy cofounding Federated Sports + Gaming with a big focus on poker. According to its website, FS+G strives “to develop, establish and grow proprietary world-class sports and gaming brands through the thoughtful integration of traditional and digital media.”

To be honest, that mission statement didn’t exactly set us astir, but reading on raised our eyebrows a bit. “Our first initiative launches in the first half 2011,” FS+G announced, “with the premiere of a revolutionary professional poker league and online gaming experience that breaks new ground and provides a superior live tournament and television experience.” The “online gaming experience” has since been partially derailed by Black Friday, but the other half of the initiative was still a go.

In January 2011, FS+G announced that it had partnered with Palms Casino Resort to form its new poker league and give it a permanent home. Then in February, FS+G made its plans for live poker official by releasing a schedule of events for the first season of the still-nameless series.

Annie Duke was added as the commissioner and Matt Savage as tournament director, and a couple of months later, the tour was slapped with the moniker Epic Poker League. Major television deals with CBS and the Velocity Network brought the vision to the masses.

Season 1 is comprised of four events held monthly at the Palms, and a Championship Event will close things out on Valentine’s Day 2012. As far as format goes, the decision makers exercised both restraint and innovation by scheduling a tidy, three-event set that includes a Pro/Am Event, a Charity Event, and the League Main Event during a two-week stretch.

The Pro/Am carries a modest $1,500 buy-in, and the final nine players all earn entries into the $20,000 Main Event. Those main events are to be dealt in four disciplines of no-limit hold’em: six-max, eight-max, mix-max, and shot clock. EPL also added $400,000 to the prize pools for each of those Main Events, but they weren’t done giving money away just yet. The top 27 money earners from the first four events will be entered into the $1 million freeroll League Championship Event.

The new Epic Poker League is not for everyone, though. In fact, only a small group of players were invited to the first season by being awarded one of three levels of membership cards. Admittance to the club is based on a combination of a player’s lifetime earnings, major poker titles, and recent success on the felt. Rankings for the players were based on a proprietary system dubbed the Global Poker Index (GPI), and 218 players were given cards in the initial round of recruiting. Those on the bubble scurried to rack up the requisite results to qualify over the summer, and the list has since grown to 252 active cards – though two of them have been suspended indefinitely.

Wait, what?

There’s plenty to talk about with the EPL, and its Standards and Conducts Committee generated good discourse within the poker community. To ensure the integrity of the league, the EPL formed a ten-member committee and charged it with “ensuring fair play, good character, and integrity in every aspect of the league’s operations.”

What’s more, they were entrusted with disciplinary powers including the authority to revoke a player’s tournament card in extreme cases. The EPL can’t escape the notion that poker and ethics are an inherently bad mix, but having well-respected players like Joe Hachem, Chad Brown, and Mike McDonald on the staff does add instant credibility.

The committee’s first official action came in August when Chino Rheem was placed on probation for personal matters regarding the repayment of debts. A month later, the league took the second most severe action it could have taken when it indefinitely suspended the cards of Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson. In the meantime, a third disciplinary issue raised the eyebrows of many both inside and outside of the game.

Michael DiVita

Michael DiVita, a middle-aged amateur from California, finished in eighth place at the second Pro/Am event, earning a $20,000 seat in the Main Event. During the information gathering, though, it was learned that DiVita was a convicted sex offender, and the committee was called upon once again. Although they never took a formal action, DiVita forfeited his entry ticket and took to the poker forums and media to share his side of the story. The reactions to the way the EPL handled the situation were divided, but if any publicity is good publicity, then the league got its fair share thanks to Michael DiVita.

The inaugural EPL Main Event kicked off on Aug. 19, and the opener did not disappoint. Four days later, Chino Rheem escaped a brutally talented final table to claim the first championship ring and the $1 million top prize. A month later, the second Main Event title went to Mike McDonald, and Chris Klodnicki won the third Champion’s Ring earlier in December. There’s still one more Main Event plus the Championship Event freeroll to get to before the books are closed on Season 1.

Criticism has been widespread, but it’s still too early to tell whether the Epic Poker League has been (or will be a) a success. It’s noteworthy, though, that the vast majority of the complaints have come from those on the outside, and their opinions should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt.

From those on the inside, the remarks are almost universally favorable. And what’s not to love? EPL hand picks the best dealers in the business, provides food vouchers for the players and media, and adds money to the prize pool, while taking no rake. The EPL’s tag line, “For the players,” seems to be guiding it in the right direction.

McLean Karr referred to the league as “a nice reward for having success in other live events,” and Matt Glantz called the team “top-rate from top to bottom.” Glantz went on to highlight some of the refreshing and unique elements and EPL event presents. “There is rarely any unnecessary tanking and not much sunglass-wearing. Most refreshing, though, is the strong aura of mutual respect between all of the players.”

Long before he was slipping the Champion’s Ring on his finger, Klodnicki was another of the supporters. “The overall vibe from the players the players was great,” he said in August. “It was definitely a tougher field than most of the tournaments I play in, but the added money and no rake helps compensate for that.”

Even the curmudgeonly Allen Bari brought himself to compliment the league. “There is just a more peaceful feeling at the table because there is a mutual respect for everyone,” he told us.

Whether or not it’s here to stay remains to be seen, but the Epic Poker League certainly made a splash in 2011.

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Photo courtesy of Epic Poker.

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