Since When Did The Epic Poker League Suddenly Become The Moral Police

This past week, the newly formed Epic Poker League came under fire for booting a player who had won a $20,000 seat at its second main event after someone at his table googled the individuals name, discovering he was a registered sex offender.

Michael Devita’s crime:  He was charged with mooning a man in a public bathroom. 

Then there’s poker bad boy Chino Rheem, who was placed on probation by the league for allegedly failing to live up to his financial obligations to fellow players.  Gambling911.com has the feeling there are many more like Rheem in the professional poker community.  They just don’t have their names publicized. 

This has left many players wondering where Epic might choose to draw the line. 

Case in point, Howard Lederer qualifies to be part of the Epic Poker League.  His role at disgraced and defunct Full Tilt Poker is well documented.  Lederer is viewed as someone who held significant power at what was once the world’s second largest online poker room.  The company’s two co-founders were charged with money laundering and bank fraud by the US Justice Department on April 15.  Since that time, customers residing in the States have yet to see any of their money from the site.  Full Tilt Poker now owes millions of dollars to players across the globe.

Then there’s John Racener.  The runner up at last year’s World Series of Poker main event is eligible to participate in the Epic Poker League thru 2014.  But while Devita has been booted for mooning a man in a washroom, no similar actions are yet to be taken against Racener, despite having three DUI’s. 

“Certainly the league doesn’t believe flashing one’s ass is a worse violation than acting like an ass and getting behind the wheel of an automobile on multiple occasions while intoxicated,” remarked Payton O’Brien, Senior Editor of the Gambling911.com website.  “Then again, they must based on these recent actions.”

On Thursday night, poker pro Allen Bari tweeted that he was about to jump off the roof of the Palms Hotel and Casino.

While he admitted on the popular Quadjacks radio show Friday it was all a joke, he also confessed to drinking heavily that evening and suggested his excessive alcohol intake makes him behave like Phil Hellmuth. 

The self-proclaimed “Poker Brat”, Hellmuth could find himself suspended for acting “inappropriately” for throwing temper tantrums. 

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter