The big news from earlier this week was that the Epic Poker League kicked off with 137 of the 253 qualified members in attendance. Seeing as how CEO Jeffrey Pollack only expected around 100 players due to scheduling conflicts and other matters, this first event could be deemed a success. However, some people still aren’t ready to give the league a ringing endorsement just yet.
Both Daniel Negreanu and Michael Bernstein are two people who think that the Epic Poker League stands very little chance of succeeding in the long run. Negreanu has been the most quoted source on this subject ever since he dissed the league on his FullContactPoker blog. The post was rather lengthy, but the most notable part of it read as follows:
Many of you have asked me why I have chosen not to support, or participate in the Epic Poker League, and while I have a laundry list of reasons, I’d point out that I chose not to take part in the World Team Poker event for one sole reason: I didn’t think it would be a success. The same holds true with the Epic Poker League. Not just because of the bizarre choice in name, but because I don’t believe this product will resonate with the public and based on my intimate knowledge of how these types of things work, I don’t think it’s possible to bring in enough revenue to survive. The only legitimate chance the league has to survive is if regulation happened in the U.S. and they were able to create an online poker site.
Jeffrey Pollack wouldn’t admit that to you publicly, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do the math here. Millions of dollars being given away to players, money spent on a TV time buy, money spent on staff, etc. with no way of recouping those funds through licensing or sponsorship. Networks aren’t going to pay you for poker programming because the necessary ratings just aren’t there. The WSOP is the world’s most prestigious brand at this point with hundreds of hours of poker programming on TV, and yet they have been unsuccessful in bringing in major money from mainstream sponsors. Ty Stewart, a straight shooter/great guy, and the man behind all of the sponsors the WSOP has been able to bring in over the years, struggles to entice mainstream sponsorship. We have Jack Links and Dearfoam slippers, but there isn’t a Lexus, or Caddilac type brand that’s stepped up to the plate at this point.
As for Michael Bernstein, he doesn’t really have nearly the clout that Negreanu has since he’s managed just $230k in live tournament cashes over a 6-year span. However, the blogger who gained most of his fame for bashing Vanessa Selbst, did have a good point about the Epic Poker League. He wrote this on his CardPlayer blog:
Though it doesn’t look like poker will ever go back to the days of hidden, smoke filled rooms in the back of casinos, or share the ho-hum popularity of an arm wrestling competition on ESPN, its celebrity has certainly stalled out on Main Street, USA. For those of you out there still looking at poker as a means to fame, the chance to do it has likely come and gone. On the other hand, if you’re in it for the money and lifestyle, well, you should have that for as long as you want. Casinos are open for business and there’s always a good game somewhere…
