New Poker League resembling Round-Robin

Bally’s Las Vegas location launched an innovative way to find the best of the best in team poker competition. The U.S. Poker League, formed in January 2006, and this is the Poker Bowl I.

This contest will take place October 20 – 23 at Bally’s in Las Vegas. The League consists of five six-player teams who will compete in five separate conferences.The rules of engagement for this tournament are that all players must play independently, regardless of team affiliation. Of course, it would be expected that teammates would soft-play each other, but team signals as to the strength of their hands is strictly prohibited.

Every team qualifies to participate in the preliminary rounds. The first round will bring forth the Team Conference Champions. These five champions will then battle in the 30-player, Poker Bowl Finale. On to the next round, “The Finale” which will consist of three ten-player tables, with two players from each team sitting at opposite ends of the table. Each table will engage in a sit-and-go tournament.

Play will continue until a single player from each team remains. The nine surviving players join a single table to play down to a winner. The “team winners” will emerge when the final team has at least two players remaining. That team will send their top three finishers, to the playoff table. The team whose player is victorious in this round of the tournament will send its first and second best finishers to the next playoff table. The award winning team is the one who eliminates the players from the opposing team.

The prize pool, assuming full participation, will be $1 million. Who will be the expected participants in the Poker Bowl I? Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Michael Mizrachi, Phil Gordon, T.J. Cloutier, and Mike Matusow are amongst the attendees. Just a few of the competitive names in the industry today.