News: Players told to keep politics out of the EPT

In today's Daily Rewind we put a block on politics at the felt and vote for the top EPT moments of all time.

Keep your opinions private

silence

In yesterday's Daily Rewind we pointed to the fact that Olivier Busquet's EPT win caused a stir for more reasons than he may have expected.

After sitting down for the finale with a t-shirt sporting the slogan "Save Gaza", Busquet not only caught the attention of the rail but the EPT's senior executives.

According to the latest Super High Roller champion, an official from PokerStars approached him after his win to explain that political t-shirts would no longer be allowed in EPT events.

Explaining further, EPT Head of Corporate Communications, Eric Hollreiser, stated that poker is not a place for political statements and that players can express their views in other platforms, but EPT tournaments "are not an appropriate place".

Soon after the news hit Twitter, a number of players tweeted their support for Busquet, including Daniel Negreanu:

"@olivierbusquet I support your right to express your opinion 100%. When you take a stand some will be offended and that is to be expected."

Nolan Dalla also penned a blog which supports poker player's rights to express their views at the felt.

What's your top EPT moment?

Since the EPT first came into being there has been a number of memorable moments, but which ones have been the most impressive?

In an effort to conjure up feelings of nostalgia and define the community's "favourite EPT moment", the festival's organisers have collated eight impressive moments featuring the likes of Jason Mercier, ElkY and Vanessa Selbst.

Currently leading the voting is Daniel Negreanu's clairvoyant moment during Season 7, but fans can still cast their vote by visiting PokerStars' YouTube page.

GPI joins the EPT

GPI

The GPI's effort to legitimise poker as a sport through a comprehensive ranking system recently moved to a new level courtesy of the EPT.

Following a string of partnerships with many of the poker world's top tournament outfits, the GPI has finally embedded itself into the EPT's POY Leaderboard.

Designed to recognise the diversity of the EPT's roster, the POY leaderboard will now use the GPI's ranking formula to define the top players in three categories: Gold, Silver and Bronze.

The Gold rankings will encompass all open EPT events, while the Silver will focus on events with buy-ins of $4,000 and below. Finally, the Bronze POY race will only include EPT tournaments with entry fees of $600 or less.

Question of the Day

"Should players in the spotlight be able to express their political views at the poker table?"

POY

High Stakes Corner

Alexander Kostritsyn topped the latest high stakes leaderboard after raking in $313,032.

Finishing just ahead of Alex Luneau, Kostritsyn found himself down by $51,920 during the early part of his session. However, after finishing his 1,868th hand, that deficit was nothing more than a distant memory for the Russian.

At the other end of the spectrum, Gus Hansen suffered another devastating loss in the last 24 hours. After grinding through more than 2,500 hands, the Dane eventually logged off with a $619,912 deficit.