The Epic Poker League is the newest and most exciting poker tour on the live tournament calendar and the Poker Channel Europe have exclusive rights to broadcast it in Europe! Featuring only the best poker players on the planet the Epic Poker League is exciting and entertaining and highlights just how deep these players think about the game.
But away from the bright lights of the television studio there are scores of people who work tirelessly behind the scenes in order to ensure the Epic Poker League runs smoothly and continues to go from strength to strength. One such person is the Executive Chairman Jeffrey Pollack.
Mr Pollack is the former Commissioner of the World Series of Poker and he is credited with reinventing the business and transforming the brand into a mainstream global sports and entertainment phenomenon. Although he is an extremely busy man he took the time to speak to us, and here is what was said.
First of all many thanks for taking the time from your busy schedule to talk to us! For Poker Channel Europe viewers who do not know anything about the Epic Poker League can you tell them a little about it, how you perceive it?
It is my pleasure! The Epic Poker League is a brand new series of tournaments that celebrates players like never before. The unique way players can gain access to the Main Events means that only the very best poker players in the world will be participating against each other. We provide a world-class stage and significant exposure for poker’s most talented live tournament players.
How did the idea of the Epic Poker League come about? Is it s personal project?
The Epic Poker League was first discussed a couple of years ago maybe slightly more and was the ideas people like Annie Duke, myself and other members of the poker community had. Ideas were bounced and passed around and things started to happen. It’s really the beginning of a journey that we’re now on.
It must feel so good to see something develop from such a small idea between friends into a grand scale television production.
Have any shows aired in the United States yet? How has the Epic Poker League being received Stateside?
Yes, yes. We’re on CBS and Velocity and the shows have been very well received. We are just starting to build our audience but the critical acclaim has been good and the initial feedback is good. As you know in television it is never as good as you want it to be, it’s never perfect and you are always trying to make it better and we actually have a big off-site meeting coming up next week where we shall start talking about how to improve things for Season 2, so it is always a work in progress.
With the number of tours on the poker calendar at the moment do you see the Epic Poker League as rivalling them or as complementing them as they will be bringing through the future stars of the game?
Without a doubt we are completely complementary, and the fact is in order to qualify for our league you have to qualify by playing in the WSOP, the WPT the EPT, we see what we do as very complementary. We only have a small number of events each year, they are very focussed and almost a niche in their own way and we are very respectable of the very strong and established poker brands that are out there.
We are doing something that is just a little bit different but we think it is something that is good for the game.
You are almost like the PGA Tour of Poker!
That’s right, that’s a fair comparison.
The inaugural season of the Epic Poker League may only have completed three tournaments so far but has it so far lived up to the expectations that you have for it?
Yes, I think it is what we expected for it to be early on, but again it is a work in progress and we are going to keep driving to make it better for TV viewers and better for players.
Obviously the very first tournament will rank highly as a highlight of Season 1 but do you have any other highlights the Poker Channel Europe viewers should look out for when the Epic Poker League airs on their screens?
I think Erik Seidel’s very strong performance in our first two events was incredibly impressive and I think a nice way to get started but to be honest it has all been good so far!
The man [Eric Seidel] is machine! He’s had the most incredible year.
Yeah! They call him “Seiborg” for a reason!
Looking to the future of the Epic Poker League, will there be any notable changes for Season 2?
At present we do not have any announcements for Season 2, we just want to get through Season 1 first before we start speaking about Season 2.
How about an Epic Poker League event in Europe? Is that something you have at least thought about?
We would love to have an event in Europe, absolutely.
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One aspect that does not come over in the transcript of the interview is how passionate Pollack was when he spoke about the Epic Poker League and the sense of pride in his voice. He honestly believes this is a fantastic product and we cannot wait until to watch the series unfold only on The Poker Channel.
