Federated Sports and Gaming has announced the schedule for its first season. The league, which features former UB.com pro Annie Duke as its Commissioner, will hold four preliminary tournaments along with a high-stakes $20,000 buy-in, rake-free Main Event. Yes, rake-free. The tournaments will run during the last four months of the year, with the Championship Event taking place in early 2012.
The Palms in Las Vegas will serve as the host for the Federated Sports and Gaming festivities. Each tournament series will span about one week, with Pro-Am, Charity, and Main Events taking place. The inaugural event will get underway on August 12th and stretch through the 19th. The Pro-Am tournament runs from August 12th to 15th, with a charity event occurring on August 14th. The very first Federated Sports and Gaming League Main Event will take place between August 16th and 19th.
According to a press release sent out by Federated Sports and Gaming on Thursday, each League Main Event will take on a different format, including six-max and heads-up. A “special multi-format tournament” will also be held, although what that means remains to be seen. Each League Main Event is rake-free, which will surely be a bonus for those in the field.
On the tournament series, Duke commented in the same press release, “We decided to vary the format of our events to showcase and challenge the skill of the best live tournament players in the world. Our Pro-Am events will create opportunities for breakout stars to shine.”
Duke gave an explanation of each League Main Event’s structure: “Because the Main Events have four or more days to play down to a winner from a start of approximately 200 players, we believe it will offer the best, most friendly structures for the skilled player out there. Great structures, no rake, and generous overlays are integral to our celebration of the best live tournament players in the world.”
Every Pro-Am event will send its top nine finishers to that week’s League Main Event via a “temporary league card.” Here’s a look at the schedule for the very first season of the Federated Sports and Gaming poker league. Once again, all tournaments will be held at the Palms in Las Vegas, across the street from the Rio, home to the annual World Series of Poker (WSOP):
Event #1
Pro-Am Event: August 12th to 15th
Charity Event: August 14th
League Main Event: August 16th to 19th
Event #2
Pro-Am Event: September 30th to October 3rd
Charity Event: October 2nd
League Main Event: October 4th to 7th
Event #3
Pro-Am Event: December 1st to 5th
Charity Event: December 4th
League Main Event: December 6th to 10th
Event #4
Pro-Am Event: January 20th to 23rd
Charity Event: January 22nd
League Main Event: January 24th to 27th
Championship Event: January 29th to 30th
The latter tournament is a $1 million freeroll that will be open to the top 27 players on the league’s leaderboard.
The company has several heavy-hitters behind it. Aside from Duke, the reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner and WSOP bracelet holder, the group also includes former WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and former executives of YouBet.
Who will comprise the league has also not been announced. Previous attempts at a private poker league like the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Professional Poker Tour (PPT) gave exemptions to WPT winners, past WSOP Main Event champions, and a group of players green-lighted by the PPT Advisory Committee, among other inroads. The PPT lasted just one season and took place in 2004 and 2005.
