The Epic Poker League – Season One

In 2009, Jeffrey Pollack left his role as the Commissioner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) to explore other interests. One of these interests was to become the executive chairman for the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), but before the name had slipped from the minds of poker players and into the minds of bull riders he resurfaced in poker in 2010.

Pollack co-founded Federated Sports and Gaming (FS&G) and in the beginning of the year FS&G announced it’s intention to create the biggest and baddest poker league on the planet. Annie Duke was named as the leagues commissioner, Matt Savage was named as the Tournament Director, the Palms Casino was named as the host venue and the Epic League was born.

Season One consists of four events with a Championship event being held in the spring of 2012.  Each event includes a Pro/Am Event, Charity Event and a League Main Event to be held over a two-week stint. The buy-in for the Pro/Am Event is $1,500 with the final nine players all receiving entry into the much bigger $20,000 Main Event.

In an attempt to create a buzz of superstardom around the league, Pollack and co limited entry to invitation only – unlike online casinos that offer generous poker sign up bonus to tempt new players. There was a need for a system to select the very best players in the world and The Global Poker Index (GPI) was born. 252 players were given Epic Poker League cards for the first season.

So far in Season one, Chino Rheem, Mike McDonald and Chris Klodnicki have won the first three events. This leaves just one more main event and then the final Champions Event to round off what will have been dubbed a great success in its first year.