Eugene Katchalov Leads First Epic Poker League Tournament

The Epic Poker League may be the newest thing in high-level tournament poker, but the leaderboard features many of the same names that have been dominating poker all summer long. Eugene Katchalov finished Day 1 of the first ever Epic Poker League tournament with 356,300 chips, putting him out in front heading into the second day of play.

Joining him at the top of the leaderboard are two names that dominated the World Series of Poker this year – Ben Lamb and Brian Rast. Both have over 250,000 chips, and are in excellent position to make deep runs. Lamb leads the WSOP Player of the Year race and is part of the November Nine, while Rast was the only player at this year’s WSOP to win two bracelets.

The first EPL Main Event attracted 137 players in total. With a $20,000 buy-in and $400,000 added into the prize pool, the total prize pool should be just over $3 million, and first place will pay $982,660. A total of 18 players will make the money, with the minimum cash being $43,190.

Given the “tour card” requirement, it would be easy to classify nearly the entire field as “notables,” but a few of the biggest names were eliminated on Day 1. Some of the top players who entered but won’t be coming back on Wednesday include Phil Hellmuth, Barry Greenstein, Michael Mizrachi and Vanessa Rousso. In total, 63 players are still alive in the event, including Antonio Esfandiari, Jason Mercier and Vanessa Selbst.

This tournament, which features a six-handed format, is the first of four regular season events being held by the Epic Poker League. At the end of the season, the top 27 money winners will earn a seat into the EPL Championship, a $1 million freeroll. The winner of that event will take home an additional $500,000, with the top six finishers being paid.