The second Epic Poker League Main Event kicked off Tuesday at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas as almost 100 poker pros squared off for both money and bragging rights. Leading the way, separated by just three big blinds and ahead of the rest of the field by 90 big blinds, are Jaime Kaplan and Daniel O’Brien.
The turnout for the Pro/Am tournament which led up to the Main Event was disappointing, as there weren’t enough players to even cover the cost of the nine Main Event seats that were awarded. This apparent lack of interest was a sign of things to come, as just 97 of the over 200 eligible players registered for the Main Event, 40 players fewer than last month. With a buy-in of $20,000 and $400,000 added by the league, this created a prize pool of $2,301,200. The winner will receive $762,410, a Champion’s ring, and a seat in the Epic Poker League Championship.
Kaplan is having one heck of a few days. Not only is he the chip leader with just 50 players remaining (12 will make the money), but he is also on a complete freeroll, as he placed 9th in the earlier Pro/Am Event, which awarded him a complementary $20,000 seat into the Main Event. With just $83,000 in total earnings including the value of the Main Event seat, he does not have an illustrious live tournament history, but this week would be as good a time as ever to make a name for himself. He did cash once at this summer’s World Series of Poker (WSOP), placing 23rd in the $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event for a modest $8,191 paycheck. He also cashed at the European Poker Tour’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January.
Daniel O’Brien is a 2-year Category B member of the Epic Poker League with over $1.3 million in career earnings on the live tournament circuit. He had an excellent 2011 WSOP, cashing six times, including one final table and one final table bubble. All told, he has 13 career WSOP cashes and six World Poker Tour (WPT) cashes. His biggest payday came in March 2010 when he placed 3rd at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars Championship Event, earning $292,800. O’Brien qualified for his 2-year Category B membership card by having at least $1.25 million in adjusted lifetime tournament earnings and at least nine cashes since January 1, 2008 for a total of least $600,000 (the vast majority of his cashes have been in that timeframe).
Since this is a professional poker league, it would take too long to list all the notables remaining in the field, but it is interesting to see David “Chino” Rheem in the top ten. Rheem won the first Epic Poker League Main Event, but was soon placed on probation by the league for not “meeting financial responsibilities on time and honoring contractual agreements.” He is required to use any winnings to repay his obligations in order to continue to participate in the Epic Poker League.
Here’s a look at the current chip leaders:
1. Jaime Kaplan – 324,600
2. Daniel O’Brien – 321,400
3. Alec Torelli – 231,500
4. Mike McDonald – 199,600
5. Nam Thien Le – 176,300
6. David ‘Chino’ Rheem – 173,300
7. Sean Getzwiller – 165,400
8. Andrew Robl – 149,700
9. Adam Levy – 145,400
10. Marco Caldwell Johnson – 145,200
The Main Event will resume today at noon Pacific.
