Aug 12 2011
Epic Poker League: Where’s Daniel Negreanu?
written by: Will under News Comments: Comments Off
As the action continues to unfold in Las Vegas at the Epic Poker League’s first of four Main Events, many at the Palms Casino and elsewhere are asking the same question: Where is Daniel Negreanu, and why wouldn’t the world’s best overall poker player (as some would argue) elect to play in such a hyped new league?
None other than Negreanu himself decided to answer that question yesterday afternoon, when he took to Full Contact Poker to write a lengthy blog entry detailing his reasoning. Although Negreanu has a “laundry list of reasons” why he’s chosen to avoid the EPL, first and foremost is that he “didn’t think it would be a success.”
Negreanu, who is respected as one of the more articulate players on the professional poker circuit, went on to explain his point of view:
“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.”
Negreanu’s reasoning makes good sense: the World Series of Poker is now a household name, with “hundreds of hours” of yearly coverage provided by ESPN. So far, it has ultimately failed to attract significant sponsorship dollars from major brands, so why would the Epic Poker League be any different considering that it will only receive 20 hours of coverage, 13 of which will be aired on a brand new network?
Negreanu also believes that the EPL’s decision to cater to the online poker scene with names such as Isaac Haxton and Galen Hall instead of Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey, for example, won’t pay off. Finally, Negreanu stated that the EPL will only be successful if online poker is legalized and regulated in the U.S., at which point the League would have the perfect opportunity to open its own online poker site.
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