Home / Poker News May 2011 / Professional Poker League Roster Announced
Professional Poker League Roster Announced
Posted by: James Carter. - Tue, 2011-05-03 14:45
Poker may have just taken another huge step towards being recognized as a legitimate sport: today, the Federated Sports + Gaming announced the lineup for the very first season of its Professional Poker League. The move sent a strong message in the wake of
online poker’s Black Friday, making it clear that the league was not affected by the move, while in the same time displaying the game of poker as a legitimate sport.
218 players made the PPL roster for the inaugural season, among them some of the biggest names in poker. The qualifying process continues till August though, which means that more players may be added to the fold. There will also be 9 “wild-card”, single-event entries which will be awarded through live qualifiers.
How did the organizers determine eligibility for the participants? A rather intricate formula was used which took into account a host of variables. Qualifying tournament performance, major poker titles, adjusted lifetime earnings and cash finishes since January 2008 were all factored in.
There were 4 different cards issued to participants, depending on the above described factors. To get a 5-year card like Allen Cunningham and Roland De Wolfe, one needs to have amassed $4 million in lifetime earnings, with no single cash exceeding the $2 million mark. He also needs to have 3 major poker titles and at least 9 tournament cashes since January 2008.
There’s a 3-year card, and two 2-year ones (Category A and B ones) with gradually decreasing requirements.
As far as qualifying tournaments go, there are a series of requirements regarding them too: they need to have been announced at least 30 days in advance, they need to have featured a minimum buy-in of $1,500 and they need to have been open for the public. Special events like ladies’ events and casino employee events do not count.
While the qualifiers are all well known players, not all “name” competitors managed to make the roster. Dan Harrington and Todd Brunson are two of the most significant absentees.
