Main Event Days 1 and 2

It is 11 PM in the Palms Ballroom, 45 minutes left in the last level of the night.

Justin Smith, stunned, busts and lingers for a moment at the table. Antonio Esfandiari, ascendant, made two pair with 8d-5d. A few tables away, Phil Laak is standing, muttering to a reporter, “… Hopi Indian …” At another table, Sam Stein puts in the third raise and, after Joe Hachem and Brian Rast move all-in, folds his pocket kings face up. Joe Hachem has the other two kings and looks stricken a moment later – or maybe even the moment before – as Rast shows pocket aces. Erik Seidel, who registered late, hovers over a big pile of chips and knocks out Amnon Filippi. After the flop, Seidel casually turns over a higher pair, though he would not look more dangerous with a hood and axe.

It is 11:05 PM night in the Palms Ballroom, 40 minutes left in the last level of the night.

If this isn’t the beginning of a new era for poker – not just Epic Poker League but the celebration everywhere of professional poker players and big-time tournament poker – it is a convincing masquerade. Epic completed Day 1 of its first Main Event, a 6-Max No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournament open only to Epic’s 253 members and 9 winners of the Pro/Am contested Friday through Monday – 8 because Andy Bloch, who won a seat, was already a League member.

A total of 137 players entered, and after Tuesday’s 6 levels, 63 remained. Tournament Director Matt Savage, Commissioner Annie Duke, Epic Poker, and the Palms combined to create an experience enthusiastically embraced by the world’s best players: great structure, personalized service, food and rooms, and overall first-class treatment. With the $400,000 added to the pool by Federated Sports + Gaming, Epic Poker’s parent company, the prize pool exceeded $3.1 million. Eighteenth place will pay $43,190, and the winner will earn $982,660 and the Champion’s Ring.

The pros responded not just with their support of the event, but with their A-games. A 6-handed game of No-Limit Hold ’Em among the world’s best is a slugfest at close quarters, an intimate yet brutal contest like the upcoming Strikeforce event coinciding at the Palms with this Friday’s final table, but with all the violence on the inside.

Could there really be any surprises in a field this strong?

Eugene Katchalov held the first day chip lead, with 356,300. Two of the most outstanding performers from the just-completed World Series of Poker, Ben Lamb (287,200) and Brian Rast (260,500) were the closest pursuers. Antonio Esfandiari (248,100) and Noah Schwartz (220,200) also had over 200,000 chips. (The final level of the day was 500-1,000/100 ante.)

Epic Poker Main Event Day 2 chip counts
Epic Poker Main Event Day 2 chip counts (PDF format)
Epic Poker Main Event Day 2 seat assignment (PDF format)

Gavin Smith, Vanessa Selbst, and Jonathan Little



Isaac Baron



Victor Ramdin



Sam Stein



Main Event Day 1 Wrapup

At 12:50am we found out the players who would cash in the inaugural Epic Poker League Main Event. 63 players began Day 2 with a chance to make the money and televised final table but just 18 remain. The pace of play was quick throughout most of the day but slowed down considerably as they neared the bubble.

Hasan Habib was the chip leader during the middle part of the day but was caught by Sam Trickett after a big run in the last half. Trickett began the day with just over a starting stack of 50,700 but will come back on Day 3 with the chip lead. Chino Rheem was in danger of going out near the bubble but caught a big hand when he cracked Justin Bonomo's Aces with Queens to stay alive.

Top Global Poker Index players and Pro/Am Qualifiers are all represented on the final three tables including 3 of the top 5 on the GPI. Erik Seidel (GPI#2), Jason Mercier (GPI#3), and Eugene Katchalov (GPI#4) are all making a bid to overtake Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier at the top of the list next week.

Dan Fleyshman and Brandon Meyers both qualified for the Main Event by finishing in the top 9 of the Pro/Am Tournament. Both will now have an opportunity to turn that entry into $1,000,000. Meyers also has a chance to crack into the GPI Top 300 as he currently sits in 367th place.

The bubble lasted nearly two hours but in the end it was David "Chino" Rheem who would take care of the last bustout. Matt Graham moved all-in with pocket jacks and was called by Rheem with Ks Js. Though Graham was ahead pre-flop, the two spade flop gave Rheem more outs and the bubble burst with the turned spade.

The players voted to move $17,340 from 2nd place to 1st so the winner will now pocket an even $1,000,000. Everyone is now guaranteed at $43,190 but all will be looking for the first place money.

The players will return on Day 3 to the new Epic Poker League stage where they will play down from 3 tables to the final table. No matter the lineup at the end of tomorrow, the final table is already guaranteed to be one of the most talented ever seen.

Chip counts and table assignments:

1 - Sam Trickett - 1,032,000
2 - Hasan Habib - 646,000
3 - Isaac Baron - 637,500
4 - Erik Seidel - 609,000
5 - Adam Levy - 587,000
6 - Jason Mercier - 535,500
7 - Matthew Glantz - 453,000
8 - Eugene Katchalov - 418,000
9 - David "Chino" Rheen - 408,000
10 - Gavin Smith - 357,500
11 - Noah Schwartz - 259,500
12 - Hoyt Corkins - 252,500
13 - Ted Lawson - 200,000
14 - Hafiz Khan - 144,000
15 - Brandon Meyers - 109,500
16 - Huck Seed - 93,500
17 - Dan Fleyshman - 82,500
18 - Justin Bonomo - 42,000

Table 1:

Seat 1: Adam Levy
Seat 2: Dan Fleyshman
Seat 3: Hafix Khan
Seat 4: Hoyt Corkins
Seat 5: Brandon Meyers
Seat 6: Isaac Baron

Table 2:

Seat 1: Noah Schwartz
Seat 2: Matthew Glantz
Seat 3: Ted Lawson
Seat 4: Huck Seed
Seat 5: David "Chino" Rheem
Seat 6: Gavin Smith

Table 3:

Seat 1: Hasan Habib
Seat 2: Eugene Katchalov
Seat 3: Sam Trickett
Seat 4: Jason Mercier
Seat 5: Justin Bonomo
Seat 6: Erik Seidel

During the first Epic Poker League event in August, we were lucky enough to have three great photographers in house. BJ Nemeth, Heather Borowinski, and Kim Dorfman spent a week roaming the tournament floor and grabbed some amazing images to enhance the live reporting and to build our galleries with first class material.

Below we have pulled together some of our favorite photos of that week in August.

Article: August Event in Pictures
Gallery: August Main Event Day 3
Gallery: August Main Event Final Table