Federated Sports and Gaming (FS+G) announced today the criteria
for membership in its new professional poker league, along with the
roster of 218 players eligible for the 2011-12 inaugural
season.
“We are committed to celebrating the world’s best live
tournament players in an entirely new way,” said Jeffrey Pollack,
Chairman of FS+G. “As we start to fulfill this mission, the first
question we had to answer was who made the cut and why. For what
could have been a very subjective discussion and debate, we elected
to embrace objective data.”
Qualification for membership in the Federated poker league is
based on an individual player's adjusted lifetime earnings in
qualifying tournaments; the number of major poker titles he or she
has won; and the number of cashes and amount earned since 2008.
These criteria combine to determine eligibility and a player's
card level for league membership. FS+G generally considers
qualifying tournaments to be live open events that have a minimum
buy-in of $1,500 U.S. (or converted equivalent). Adjusted lifetime
earnings are the accumulation of earnings in FS+G qualifying
tournaments.
Based on the qualification criteria, players qualify for a
Five-Year, Three-Year or Two-Year card. The length of each “card”
term – otherwise known as the “exemption period” – is based on the
player’s achievement level and the exemption period is the amount
of time a qualifying player will be eligible to enter the FS+G
professional poker league tournaments before his or her status
comes up for review. For example, if a player has a Five-Year card,
they will not come up for an eligibility review until the end of
2015-2016 season. For the upcoming 2011-12 season, the professional
poker league will make available 27 Five-Year cards, 55 Three-Year
cards, and 136 Two-Year-cards.
“Our goal in setting the objective qualifying criteria was to
capture the best live tournament players – not a certain set of
personalities,” said Annie Duke, Commissioner of the league.
“Keeping the league membership small not only ensures the highest
quality of tournament play, but also allows FS+G to provide a
superior playing experience and outstanding service levels to our
members.”
In its inaugural season, 218 players qualify for league
membership. Additional players may qualify for 2011-12 league
membership through August 1st, 2011 -- so the inaugural roster may
be expanded, based upon player performance in qualifying
tournaments over the summer. There will be no exemptions of any
kind for entry into the league, except for the nine temporary,
single-event cards awarded through the Pro-Am tournament that
precedes each of the four Main Events.
The Federated Sports + Gaming website (www.federatedinc.com) has
a complete list of the 218 players who have qualified for the
inaugural season of the professional poker league
(http://www.federatedinc.com/poker-league/season-one-roster) and
the detailed qualifying criteria
(http://www.federatedinc.com/poker-league/qualification-criteria).
Some of the legendary players and rising stars that qualify for
the league include: Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Erik Seidel, Phil
Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Carlos Mortensen ,
Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari , Vivek Rajkumar, Joe Hachem,
Allen Cunningham, Tom Dwan, Jason Mercier, Vanessa Selbst, Eugene
Katchalov, Andy Lichtenberger, Annette Obrestaad and Daniel
Alaei.
“These players are an exciting mix of seasoned veterans and
young talent,” said Duke. “They are the best of the best and we
congratulate them on their achievements in poker and earning league
membership in our inaugural season.”
“This type of league has been a dream of mine for more than 50
years,” said poker icon Doyle Brunson. “I’m honored to be included
in this elite group and look forward to the challenge of competing
with so many other skilled live tournament players.”
“I'm very happy to be part of the pro poker league because of
how well the players are being represented,” said Andy
Lichtenberger, who also qualifies for a Two-Year card. “This is the
first time we are getting something in return for all that we are
putting in.”
FS+G announced today that each of the league’s four rake-free
events will feature $400,000 in guaranteed prize pool overlay.
Combined with a $1,000,000 free roll championship prize pool, FS+G
is guaranteeing $2,600,000 in added prize money to league members
in its first year. Details of other benefits to the poker league
members will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Palms Casino Resort will host four event weeks in the
inaugural season, along with the 2011-12 championship event. The
four Main Events will feature different formats of No-Limit Texas
Hold’em, including six-handed play, a heads-up tournament with an
innovative seeding structure, and a special multi-format tournament
to round out the season. Each event week will include a Pro-Am
event, a charity tournament, and a $20,000 buy-in Main Event.
Each tournament week at the Palms will begin with a $1,500
Pro-Am event, which is also rake-free for league members, in which
the top nine finishers will be awarded a temporary league card for
that week’s league Main Event. The nine Main Event buy-ins will be
withheld from the Pro-Am tournament prize pool and the remaining
prize money will be awarded to the top 10% of the Pro-Am players,
including the players who are awarded the temporary league cards.
The Pro-Am tournament will be open to all players 21 years and
older.
2011-12 Federated Sports and Gaming Season
I Tournament Schedule
Pro-Am Charity Tournament League Main Event Event #1 August
5 - 8, 2011 August 7, 2011 August 9 - 12, 2011 Event #2
September 2 - 5, 2011 September 4, 2011 September 6 - 9, 2011
Event #3 December 9 - 12, 2011 December 11, 2011 December 14
- 18, 2011 Event #4 January 27 - 30, 2012 January 29, 2012
February 9 - 12, 2012 Championship ---- ---- February 13 -
14, 2012
About Federated Sports + Gaming
Federated Sports + Gaming (FS+G) was founded in 2010 to create
proprietary world-class sports and gaming brands through the
integration of traditional and digital media, including televised
events, social media gaming and interactive digital programming.
The company breaks new ground in the poker world through its launch
of a revolutionary professional poker league in 2011. FS+G will
celebrate the world's top poker players by providing them with the
spotlight they have long deserved. FS+G is dedicated to creating
new traditions in poker entertainment by providing fans and players
with an unmatched poker tournament, poker TV and interactive poker
experience. FS+G offices are based out of Los Angeles and
Washington D.C. For more information please visit
www.federatedinc.com.
About The Palms
The Palms Casino Resort, heralded as one of Las Vegas' hippest
resorts, is an all-encompassing, one-stop destination. Owned by the
Maloof family, the boutique property boasts three distinct towers
and a diverse mix of bars and restaurants across a
95,000-square-foot casino. Amenities include the legendary Playboy
Club; Ghostbar; Rain Nightclub; The Pearl Concert Theater; Moon
Nightclub; N9NE Steakhouse; Nove Italiano; Little Buddha; Simon
Restaurant & Lounge; The Palms Pool & Bungalows; Palms Spa
and AMP Salon; Drift Spa & Hammam; LA Sunset Tan; Brenden
Theatres, a 14-theatre Cineplex; Huntington Ink Tattoo Lounge; the
Fantasy Suites, including the Hardwood Suite, the only hotel room
in the world with its own basketball court; and over 60,000
square-feet of meeting space. The Palms has played host to MTV’s
Video Music Awards, Real World: Las Vegas and Bravo’s Celebrity
Poker Showdown, and E!’s Girls Next Door and Sunset Tan feature the
resort on a regular basis. The Palms Casino Resort is located just
west of the Las Vegas Strip and I-15 on Flamingo Road. For
reservation information, call toll free at (866) PALMS-RES, (866)
725-6773, or visit www.palms.com. For groups of 15 rooms or more,
contact the Sales Department at (866) PALMS-MTG or (866)
725-6768.
PROFESSIONAL POKER LEAGUE QUALIFICATION FACT
SHEET
Here are some important facts about the qualification criteria
for the new professional poker league:
1. Not all poker tournaments count towards
meeting the league eligibility criteria. Only qualifying
tournaments count, a poker tournament is considered a “qualifying
tournament” if it:
- Has a buy-in of $1,500 U.S. or
more.
- Is open to the general public.
Invitational tournaments qualify as long as members of the public
can play their way in through preliminary or satellite events.
Seniors, Ladies, Employees, CEO and other special-design events are
not qualifying tournaments.
- Is announced and publicized to the
general public at least 30 days prior to the start of the
event.
- Attracts a minimum of 21 players.
2. The following poker tournaments are
considered “major” title events (assuming they meet the ‘qualifying
tournament’ requirements in point #1)
- Federated Sports + Gaming Main
Events
- WSOP Las Vegas and WSOP Europe open
event with a buy-in of $1,500 US or higher
- WPT Main Event
- NAPT Main Event
- EPT Main Event
- Aussie Millions Main Event
- WSOP Circuit Main Event with a buy-in
of $5,000 U.S. or higher
- British Columbia Poker Open
- European Poker Championships
- Any tournament with a buy-in of $10,000
US or higher and a field of 100 or more and took place in the year
2001 or after
- Any tournament with a buy-in of $5,000
US or higher and a field of 100 or more and took place in the year
2000 or before
3. Adjusted lifetime earnings, are the sum of
all cashes in qualifying tournaments. A player’s single largest win
in a qualifying tournament may be capped if it exceeds the
threshold for the player’s applicable card level.
PROFESSIONAL POKER LEAGUE QUALIFICATION
CRITERIA
Qualification for the new professional poker league is based on
a player’s performance in qualifying tournaments and measured by a
combination of adjusted lifetime earnings; number of major poker
titles won; adjusted earnings since January 1, 2008; and, the
adjusted number of cashes since January 1, 2008. The criteria for
each type of card is as follows (note that all monetary amounts are
expressed in U.S. dollars):
Five-Year Card
- At least $4.0 million in adjusted
lifetime earnings, with the single largest win capped at $2.0
million
- At least 3 major titles
- At least 9 cashes since January 1,
2008, for a total of at least $600,000 won
Three-Year Card
- At least $2.5 million in adjusted
lifetime earnings, with the single largest win capped at $1.5
million
- At least 1 major title
- At least 9 cashes since January 1,
2008, for a total of at least $500,000 won
Two-Year Card
- At least $2 million in adjusted
lifetime earnings, with the single largest win capped at $1
million
- At least 1 major title
- At least 6 cashes since January 1,
2008, for a total of at least $300,000 won
Or
- At least $1.25 million in adjusted
lifetime earnings, with the single largest win capped at
$750,000
- At least 9 cashes since January 1,
2008, for a total of $600,000 won