Steve O'Dwyer Wins First EPL Pro/Am

Steve O’Dwyer made Epic Poker League history Sunday, winning the first ever EPL Pro/Am event. The tournament, which was designed to largely be a satellite, awarded nine seats into the first EPL Main Event, as well as cash prizes thanks to a relatively high turnout.

The tournament featured a $1,500 buy-in, and attracted 190 players – more than enough to cover the nine $20,000 buy-in seats that were guaranteed by the EPL. For winning the tournament, O’Dwyer not only won his seat, but also an additional $23,810 in prize money. The top 18 players cashed in the event, with small cash prizes going to the nine players who just missed winning a ticket into the Main Event.

O’Dwyer wasn’t the only player to earn his way into the first ever Epic Poker League event over the weekend. The rest of the final nine who earned free seats into the Main Event include Brandon Meyeres, Andy Bloch, Cliff Waite, Jeremiah DeGreef, Micah Raskin, Sean Getzwiller, George Long and Dan Fleyshman. While Bloch was already eligible to play in the Main Event (though he now won’t be required to put up the entry fee), he was the only player in the group who already held an EPL tour card.

With the eight new players who will be participating in the Main Event, there are now a total of 260 players who may play in the first EPL event, which begins at 3 pm Vegas time on Tuesday. However, it is unclear exactly how many of those players will choose to participate. Relatively few high profile players have made their intentions known; among those who have, Daniel Negreanu has said he won’t be playing, while Phil Hellmuth has confirmed that he’ll be part of the field. It’s unclear what would be considered a successful turnout for the first tour event, but it’s likely that tournament directors would be happy if more than half of the eligible field turned up for the tournament.

Monday was another big day for the EPL, as the league hosted its first ever charity event. 91 players participated, raising $53,800 for Operation USA. The tournament was won by Andy Frankenberger, who donated his winnings to the charity.