With one week left in the season, the seats are being grabbed by teams for the Global Poker League’s inaugural Championship Playoff. In one conference, there is only one slot left to be filled while, in the other conference, literally everyone is still alive.
In the GPL Americas, two of the playoff seats had been grabbed earlier this month. The Montreal Nationals, who have been at or near the top of the standings throughout the season, grabbed one of the playoff spots. With a good showing in the final week the Nationals can seize the #1 seed in the playoffs, but it will take some work to hold off a team that truly has been their nemesis.
The L. A. Sunset clinched their playoff slot at the same time as the Nationals and have been hanging around looking for a chance to catch up with them. Only 11 points back, the squad led by manager Maria Ho needs to have a huge showing in the final week’s action and hope that they see the Nationals fade a bit. The Sunset also have the added impetus of trying to hold onto their #2 seed in the playoffs as a stunner clinched their playoff spot just last week.
With a blistering performance from Joao Peres Simao, winning two of three heads up matches against the Nationals’ Jason Lavallee, the Sao Paulo Metropolitans captured a seat in the GPL Championship Playoffs, currently as the #3 seed. Only the Las Vegas Moneymakers have been eliminated from the GPL Americas race (they are the only team OVERALL to be eliminated from playoff contention), leaving the San Francisco Rush (155 points) and the New York Rounders (152 points) to fight over the final berth in the playoffs. New York, who dominated early season play in the GPL, would have to earn more points than the Rush because, if there were a tie, the Rush would hold the tiebreaker with four more total wins than the Rounders.
Over in the GPL Eurasia, it is a much more complicated picture. From the top team in the conference, the Moscow Wolverines, to the bottom squad, the London Royals, only 15 points separate the contenders. With four playoff spots at stake, no one has locked up one or even come close to determining the overall seeding. It is possible that the Wolverines, despite leading the conference coming into the final week of the season, could be left on the “outside looking in” if they don’t perform in the array of matches in the coming week.
The Wolverines will know what they have to do to be able to claim the GPL Eurasia crown by the time they step to the virtual felt on Wednesday afternoon. The second-place team, the Hong Kong Stars, will be playing at 1PM (Eastern time United States) against the Berlin Bears. Both teams aspire about catching the Wolverines and, if one or the other were to sweep the three-match series, they would go in front of the Wolverines. As it is currently, the Moscow team only needs to win two matches to lock up the #1 seed.
While the Wolverines have a seven-point lead over the Hong Kong Stars, the rest of the playoff picture remains murky. Eight points separate the Stars (currently the #2 seed) from the London Royals (currently in sixth place and out of the playoffs) and the Rome Emperors are only seven points back of the Stars. The action in the final week will be critical to determining the three remaining playoff slots with no team staking a strong claim to their position in the postseason.
After next week’s action, the playoffs will be set and the teams will have some prep time. The GPL playoffs are scheduled for November 29-30 at the GPL Arena in Las Vegas and the Championship Matches are scheduled for December 1, also in Las Vegas. Who will be there? That will be determined in the final week of the regular season for the Global Poker League’s inaugural offering.