Greg Mueller Wins EPL Pro/Am

Former professional hockey player Greg Mueller won the Epic Poker League Pro/Am event, becoming one of nine players to earn a seat into the upcoming EPL Main Event. The Pro/Am, which had a buy-in of $1,500, guaranteed nine $20,000 seats into what will be the second EPL tournament of the year.

Unlike the first EPL Pro/Am, which drew enough players to not only cover the nine guaranteed seats, but also award some small cash prizes to the top finishers, this edition of the Pro/Am was not well-attended. A mere 97 players participated in the satellite, meaning there was a $34,500 overlay for the players, as $180,000 worth of seats were awarded.

After the first two starting days, 20 players remained in the hunt on Day 2. Since there was no prize money involved, most thought the tournament would simply play down to nine and stop there, awarding the remaining players their seats (and the commemorative Commissioner’s Coin). However, some players were interested in playing on in order to attempt to earn points in the various poker rankings systems. A compromise was reached; since no money was on the line, the final nine players agreed to play the rest of the tournament at the blinding pace of five minutes per level.

The change in tempo had the desired effect, with Mueller winning the tournament in about 45 minutes after the final table began. On the final hand, Mueller’s pocket jacks beat out Nam Le’s K9 to take home the title. Mueller, who played professional hockey primarily in Europe, has two WSOP bracelets in his professional poker career, which he took up after retiring from hockey in 1999.

Interestingly, none of the top three finishers needed to play in the Pro/Am to qualify for the Main Event (though winning a seat this way will still save them from having to pay a $20,000 entry fee). Mueller, Le and third place finisher Phil Hellmuth all hold tour cards.

For the rest of the table, however, the Pro/Am was the only way into the EPL Main Event, which begins on Tuesday. Other players at the final table who won seats into that event were Andreas Hoivold, Sean Getzwiller, Brandon Meyers, Russell Rosenbum, Jeremy Ausmus and Michael DiVita.