New Professional Poker League

A new poker league is being launched this year open to only the world’s top professional players.

This year will see the introduction of a new professional poker league which will only be open to the best players in the game. The league is hoping to redefine the game of poker as we know it. The league does not yet have a name but it is being formed by the former World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and the professional poker player Annie Duke. Duke recently made headlines when she ended her long term sponsorship deal with the online poker site Ultimate Bet.
A total of 200 professional poker players will be invited to take part in the league which will consist of four live tournaments and a number of game variations. Three of the tournaments will be held between August and December this year with a final tournament to be held in January 2012. The 200 players will be chosen according to a mathematical formula which takes into account a player’s achievements including major title events, career earnings and their recent form but won’t consider cash games or online poker.
The four tournaments will each have numerous events which players will take part in. The finale will be a main event which has a $25,000 buy-in. Unlike events such as the World Series of Poker and the UBOC at Ultimate Bet, players in this new professional poker league will be required to pay their own entry fees rather than being sponsored to play. It is likely that this is because of a number of advertising regulations and legal restrictions.
Duke said that the poker world is lacking a league which really finds out who the world’s top professional are and the new league is designed to fill this gap, much like the PGA of golf. Because events such as the WSOP are open to all it is hard to find showdowns between star players. Pollack said that being a member of the league will signify a player’s status as a true professional in poker.
Of course nearly everyone reading this will not feature in the top 200 poker players of this year, but don’t worry. There are numerous online poker championships which are open to everyone including the UBOC 6 at Ultimate Bet, and even if you don’t win the title, doing well in one of these tournaments is normally a sure sign that you are well on your way to becoming one of the world’s top professional players.