And the number one pick in the 2016 Global Poker League draft goes to … the Rome Emperors managed by Max Pescatori.
The selection of the draft order for the Global Poker League was broadcast live on Twitch on Tuesday. Alex Dreyfus, CEO of GPL parent company Mediarex, chose the teams lottery-style, and Eric Danis provided analysis on where certain top players would be drafted.
Danis expects Italian Mustapha Kanit to go as the first pick in the draft. Kanit ranks first on the all time money list for live cashes in Italy with more than $6 million and has more than $4 million in online winnings as well.
The GPL draft will follow a snake-style format and take place on February 25 in Los Angeles at the SLS Hotel where the managers of the 12 franchises will have the option to select four of the six players that will eventually make up their roster. Managers will be selecting from a pool of 203 eligible players.
In order to be eligible, players needed to be ranked in the top 1000 on the Global Poker Index as of December 31, 2015, and they needed to submit an application to the GPL by last week.
The high level of interest by ranked players prompted the GPL to add the optional fourth round, which was announced at the beginning of the broadcast.
In the week following the draft, players will announce their “Wildcard” picks, which can be anybody they like. Many of the managers are expected to pick themselves as one of the wildcards. In chat during the draft on Tuesday, Chris Moneymaker confirmed that he will be playing for the Las Vegas Moneymakers, at least for season 1.
The schedule for the 2016 season will be released following the draft, according to Dreyfus who hinted that it will start with online matches and build towards a “crescendo” when the playoffs will take place in a live sporting arena inside the glass box known as The Cube. All matches will be broadcast live on Twitch.
The entire draft order is as follows:
1. Rome Emperors Manager Max Pescatori
2. Montreal Nationals Manager Marc-Andre Ladouceur
3. New York Rounders Manager Bryn Kenney
4. San Francisco Rush Manager Faraz Jaka
5. Las Vegas Moneymakers Manager Chris Moneymaker
6. Sao Paulo Metropolitans Manager Andre Akkari
7. London Royals Manager Liv Boeree
8. Moscow Wolverines Manager Anatoly Filatov
9. Los Angeles Sunset Manager Maria Ho
10. Berlin Bears Manager Philipp Gruissem
11. Paris Aviators Manager Fabrice Soulier
12. Hong Kong Stars Manager Celina Lin
