Epic Poker League discusses delay of fourth event

After countless press releases and announcements the Epic Poker League has been relatively quiet on the PR front since they decided to postpone the fourth stop of their inaugural season from January until the Spring -a move the Epic Poker League stated was due to player concerns regarding scheduling conflicts, and on the other hand the league’s naysayers pointing to dwindling attendance numbers and financial issues for the delay.

However, on Monday the Epic Poker League decided to release a statement by League Commissioner Annie Duke, who stated:

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

Once the fourth tournament is completed the Epic Poker League is scheduled to host a $1 million freeroll tournament for the Top 27 performers on the tour -another reason the EPL detractors have pointed out as a possible reason for the delay considering once the fourth tournament is in the books the EPL is on the hook for a$1 million freeroll.

Thus far, only the initial EPL Main Event has lived up to the lofty expectations the tour and the poker community had set for the tournament series. The first stop saw 130 entrants, while stops two and three were both in the 100 player range. While 1 decrease from 130 to 100 players wouldn’t be fatal to other tournaments, the Epic Poker League is a non-raked event that adds $400k to every Main Event prize-pool.

Without a strong finish to the season the EPL could be seen as a failed experiment before Season 2 even begins. In fact, the EPL is already rumored to be up for sale, with WickedChops Poker’s Insider column recently claiming Pinnacle Entertainment has been in talks to take over the Epic Poker League.