By SEAN CHAFFIN, Editor/Senior Writer The toughest final table ever assembled. That’s how Epic Poker LeagueCommissioner Annie
Huck Seed & Chino Rheem are playing at Epic Poker's first final table. First place is $1 million.
Duke described today’s first-ever final table. And she may just be right – it is stacked with some of the world’s best players seeking the $1 million first prize. It’s a full house in the Epic Arena today. The atmosphere is pretty quiet with only the sound of riffling chips and the dulcet tones of Matt Savage announcing the action to the audience and television cameras. The final table in the six-handed event is super tough. Here is a look at the final table starting chip stacks and the payouts awaiting the players: Seat 1: Hasan Habib – 1,655,000 Seat 2: Erik Seidel – 1,109,000 Seat 3: Chino Rheem – 1,432,000 Seat 4: Gavin Smith – 766,000 Seat 5: Jason Mercier – 1,495,000 Seat 6: Huck Seed – 396,000 Final Table payouts: 1st – $1,000,000 2nd – $604,330 3rd – $360,970 4th – $237,560 5th – $154,260 6th – $107,980 I have interviewed two of the six at the final table so far (Gavin Smith and Huck Seed) for some magazine articles I am working on (will post links to some of my upcoming articles here at PokerTraditions). One of those publications is Canadian Poker Player, so a nice finish by Gavin would make for a pretty nice article. For the latest updates on the final table, click here.
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I played a bit of poker last night, but no luck. Had bad luck again on a few bad beats (I won’t go into to too much detail, but one was really ugly). Anyway, things didn’t turn out all bad. I placed
My winning ticket.
a bet with a friend on a three-team parlay last night on NFL preseason games. Preseason games you’re saying? Yes, it actually made them much more entertaining than having nothing on the games and figuring out which third-string spare just made a tackle. Anyway, we had Denver (+2.5), New England (-3), and Seattle (+3). We had to hit them all. New England won big. Seattle started out down a touchdown, but came back and we hit on that one too. It all came down to Denver, who was up by a TD late in the game against the Cowboys. Dallas scored a late touchdown with only 15 seconds in the game. Luckily, they went for 2 and got it – no overtime thankfully. The game ended with 1-point Dallas win, but did not beat the spread. Our $20 parlay got us back $140. Very nice to be a winner sometimes!
Here are some more scenes from my trip to Las Vegas to cover the Epic Poker League:
Collecting my winnings on a three-team parlay. Nice!
Epic Poker players lounge.
The ballroom is emptied of poker stuff. Only the final table in Epic Arena remains.
Bally's & Paris casinos.
Some of the fountains at Caesars Palace.
