There was quite a bit of action in the world of tournament poker over the past week, with big names winning in both the live and online poker arenas, as well as some news on the fourth stop of the Epic Poker League’s inaugural season.

Nicky Evans wins

Team LockPRO Elite member Nicky Evans scored a huge win this past week by capturing the Niagat FallsView Main Event for $308,000. According to Evans Twitter account he cut a deal towards the end that saw him walk away with $240k: “Omfg I won!!!! 240k after deals….. Yessaaassssssss”

Evans is a regular on the UK poker scene, but the massive payday was his largest live tournament score to date, easily besting his previous high of $28,733 won at the Second Chance £100,000 Poker Classic in 2008.

Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz wins

The brash-talking Luke Schwartz picked-up a big online win this past weekend after defeating a field of 860 players to win the PokerStars Sunday 500. With a total prize-pool of $430,000, Schwartz pocketed a very nice payday of just over $77,000.

Click here for a PokerStars Download

WSOP Circuit Series in Tunica

Kurt Jewell picked-up his second WSOP Circuit Series Main Event ring (his third WSOPC ring overall) this week after he weaved his way through the 647 player field that registered for the WSOPC Main Event held at Harrah’s resort in Tunica.

Here is a look at the final table payouts from the tournament:

1. Kurt Jewell – $192,984

2. Chris Thompson – $119,415

3. Dan Goldman – $87,586

4. Jacob Bazeley – $65,134

5. Dustin Gardner – $49,093

6. Steve McClusky – $37,495

7. Michael Cooper – $29,013

8. Todd Chew – $22,744

9. Ray Weaver – $18,056

Epic Poker League issues statement

Annie Duke, the Commissioner of the Epic Poker League, released a statement this past week detailing the league’s plans for the delayed fourth stop on the EPL Season 1 schedule:

Prior to Event 3, and even more so during Event 3, we received a lot of player feedback about the Event 4 schedule that extends over January and February (as it stands now, the fourth Pro/Am sits ten days in front of the fourth Main Event). We have heard you loud and clear that the 10-day break is not ideal from a player perspective — especially for those who have not yet completed their Pro/Am and/or Charity Event requirement. So, in response to your clear feedback, we have made the decision to move Event 4 away from the January and February dates to later in the spring and at a time that will allow us to run the Pro/Am and Charity Events during the same week as the Main Event.

We are working to set new dates that do not conflict with the global tournament schedule in the coming months and that fit with casino space availability. We will have new dates to announce after the New Year, but we felt it was best to let all of you know – as soon as possible – so that you can plan your schedules accordingly.

Annie Duke

Commissioner, Epic Poker League

While many people will take the statement at face value, others in the poker community have expressed their concerns regarding the league’s solvency at this point. Is this simply a stalling tactic to give the EPL more time to negotiate a deal for the sale of the company, or is the league truly trying to set a date for the fourth stop (which would then be followed by a $1 million freeroll for the Top 27 players from Season 1)?

Tags: Annie Duke, Chris Thompson, Elite Member, Goldman, Inaugural Season, Jewell, main event, Mcclusky, Michael Cooper, Omfg, Online Poker, Player Feedback, pokerstars download, Prize Pool, Season 1, Second-Chance, Tournament Poker, Tournament Score, Tunica, Twitter

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2012 at 9:54 am and is filed under Tournament News, World Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.