We at ThePokerPractice have always been skeptical of the Epic Poker League, and have often questioned whether a PGA-style tournament organization could be successful in poker. So far, our skepticism hasn’t wavered – especially amidst news that the Epic Poker League is bankrupt.
Their parent company, Federated Sports + Gaming, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday, which means they’re in serious debt and having trouble paying it back. Now this doesn’t mean they’re finished quite yet because Federated Sports + Gaming still retains rights to the EPL and their Global Poker Index ranking system. But they obviously haven’t experienced a lot of financial success so far.
Jeffrey Pollack, who is the Chairman of FS + G, believes that the answer in getting the Epic Poker League back on track centers on finding a good partner. He also spoke about the bankruptcy by saying, “This reorganization filing is an important first step in that direction and our goal is to keep the Epic Poker League and all of our key initiatives – including the Global Poker Index, epicpoker.com, the Epic Poker game on Facebook, and the Heartland Poker Tour – moving forward with a continued spirit of innovation.”
Pollack added a word about the partner by saying, “We will most likely accomplish this by entering into an agreement with another firm that shares our passion and vision – a process we had been working toward prior to the filing.”
The Epic Poker League intrigued the poker world when they started operating last year, and they’ve successfully held three tournaments so far. However, their system is very different from other poker organizations since they only invite pros to the events, and front the prize pools for each tournament. Right now, the latter is proving to be a difficult hurdle for the EPL, which relies on lucrative TV contracts to keep going. It will be interesting to see if they can pull out of this mess, and we’ll keep you updated on any further news.