As they prepare for Opening Day of their inaugural season, several of the managers of the Global Poker League franchises have decided to announce the players who will be their “wild cards” for the upcoming season. In some cases, the managers have decided to call their own number (AKA put their own name in as a wild card) for one of the spots but in general all of the “wild cards” chosen have been solid players in the poker world.
Of the 12 teams that make up the GPL, seven of them have seen their manager enter the fray and become a player/manager for the squad. Chris Moneymaker (Las Vegas Moneymakers), Bryn Kenney (New York Rounders), Faraz Jaka (San Francisco Rush), Liv Boeree (London Royals), Anatoly Filatov (Moscow Wolverines), Fabrice Soulier (Paris Aviators) and Max Pescatori (Rome Emperors) will all pull double duty for their teams, betting that their skills are better than anyone else that could potentially be available in the poker world. They also have picked their “wild cards” to fill out their six-player rosters, with Kenney looking no further than his family with brother Tyler, Scott Ball joining Moneymaker and Jonathan Jaffe teaming with Jaka and the Rush. Sam Trickett (Royals), Igor Yaroshevsky (Wolverines) Alexandre Luneau (Aviators) and Todd Brunson (Emperors) also have found homes with teams in the GPL.
Two team managers went the route of picking two “wild cards” and, instead of the manager inserting themselves onto the team, chose two players and decided to stay in a management position. The Sao Paulo Metropolitans manager Andre Akkari felt that Felipe Mojave and Joao Bauer were both better players than he would be, putting them on the Mets roster as the “wild cards,” while Berlin Bears manager Phillip Gruissem surprised many in picking two power players – and eschewing calling his own name – in naming Bill Perkins and Daniel Cates to the Bears squad.
At this late date, there are three teams that have not yet picked their two wild card selections. The L. A. Sunset, the Montreal Nationals and the Hong Kong Stars are all pushing the envelope on making their selections as managers Maria Ho (Sunset), Marc-Andre Ladouceur (Nationals) and Celina Kim (Stars) all gather as much information before committing to a player (or players). The three managers had best hurry because the clock is ticking.
In less than 48 hours, the first events of the inaugural season of the GPL will take to the virtual felt of the GPL arena and the live streaming cameras of the professional sporting league. Beginning on Tuesday at noon (Eastern Time U. S., approximately 5PM GMT), GPL Eurasia will take to the felt for a Six-Max showdown that apparently will feature half of the six-player squads. The reason for this assumption is that, at 1:40PM, GPL Eurasia will play a second Six-Max event (the time limit on these events looks to be 90 minutes).
After GPL Eurasia has finished their work, GPL Americas will step to the plate. They will also play two sessions of Six-Max on Tuesday, with start times of 3:30PM and 5:10PM. All of this action will be played online and be streamed live on GPL.tv and will also be broadcast live on Poker Central Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday will be the first day of heads up play between the teams. GPL Eurasia will take to the virtual tables first as heads up matches between the six members of each team are on the schedule. The day’s festivities line up as such (Poker News Daily’s pick to win in bold):
Hong Kong Stars vs. Moscow Wolverines, 12PM
Berlin Bears vs. Paris Aviators, 2:30PM
Rome Emperors vs. London Royals, 5PM
Thursday is the day that GPL Americas will be featured, with their first day of play sizing up as such (PND picks in bold):
L. A. Sunset vs. Sao Paulo Metropolitans, 1PM
Montreal Nationals vs. San Francisco Rush, 3:30PM
New York Rounders vs. Las Vegas Moneymakers, 6PM
(all times are Eastern Time)
This online schedule will hold (with the Wednesday and Thursday schedules changing as far as the team matchups) until the start of the World Series of Poker, at which time the GPL will take a summer break. After the WSOP concludes, then the tough part of the regular season will begin as a five-week battle commences in live heads up matches.
The first week of the GPL is ready to go. The players for the most part are primed, the announcers are ready and the software appears ready to go (as far as what the GPL is saying!). Now, will poker’s fandom and the general sporting world come along for the ride?
