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From under the gun, Jason Mercier raised to 32,000 and action folded around to the blinds. Chino Rheem was in the small blind and three-bet. From our vantage point, the raise appeared to be 52,000 more. Gavin Smith folded his big blind and Mercier made the call.
The flop was 
with two spades. Rheem fired out 88,000 and Mercier didn't waste much time before folding.
On the first hand at the final table, Gavin Smith opened with a raise to 40,000 from the cutoff seat. Huck Seed flatted out of the small blind and Hasan Habib called from the big blind. Already on the first hand, a flop would be seen.
The flop came down 
and action checked around to see the 
pair the board on the turn.Seed slid forward some chips, totaling 70,000. Habib called and Smith folded.
The river completed the board with the 
and Seed checked. Habib checked behind and showed the 
to win the pot.
With a few brief announcements from Epic Poker League Commissioner Annie Duke, Tournament Director Matt Savage has kicked things off with the famous words, "Shuffle up and deal!" The cards are now in the air and Jason Mercier will control the button to start.
Level: 18
Blinds: 8,000/16,000
Ante: 2,000
As we wait for the final table to start, the stands have been filling up with plenty of spectators. Some of the faces are very notable. In Chino Rheem's section two Mizrachi brothers, Michael and Eric, are seated along with Theo Tran and Mark Newhouse. Over in Jason Mercier's section, Allen Bari and Dan O'Brien are seated along with Mercier's father and girlfriend.
Greg Mueller just entered and is seated down in front of media row. He's actively been tweeting about rooting for Hasan Habib, Huck Seed and Rheem. Mueller literally just got off a plane to come back to Vegas and sweat the action. Shannon Shorr and Sam Chauhan are also here. Chauhan being the mindset coach of Gavin Smith.
Welcome to the final table of the Epic Poker League's first Main Event here at Palms Resort Casino in Las Vegas. We've got a superstar lineup of competitors vying for the title and $1 million first-place prize and it's set to be a great day on the felt.
Leading the way into the final table is Hasan Habib with 1.655 million in chips. He's followed by Jason Mercier and then Chino Rheem isn't too far behind him. Below is the seating assignments for the final table and you can read a short bio on each player even further down in the blog.
Final Table Lineup
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hasan Habib | 1,655,000 |
| 2 | Erik Seidel | 1,109,000 |
| 3 | Chino Rheem | 1,432,000 |
| 4 | Gavin Smith | 766,000 |
| 5 | Jason Mercier | 1,495,000 |
| 6 | Huck Seed | 396,000 |
Play was set to kick off at 2:00 PM local time, but things are running a little bit behind schedule. There is a long line of spectators outside the arena waiting to get in and catch the action. We can't wait for things to start and we're sure you can't either, so stay tuned to PokerNews as we'll have all the coverage live from the EPL final table once the cards are in the air!
Hasan Habib will enter the final table with the chip lead, bagging up 1.655 million in chips at the end of the day yesterday. Over his career, Habib has racked up nearly $5.2 million in career tournament earnings and owns one World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Habib's largest money finish came in April 2004 when he placed second in the World Poker Tour World Championship for $1,372,223.
Habib owns a three-year eligibility card to the Epic Poker League that's good through 2014.
Erik Seidel needs no introduction. The man has $16,011,752 in career tournament earnings, 27 lifetime wins and nearly 200 cashes. He holds eight World Series of Poker gold bracelets, one World Poker Tour title and numerous other accolades.
Seidel comes into the final table fourth in chips and has a chance to become the number one player on the Global Poker Index ranking list if he can outperform Jason Mercier today. Seidel holds a five-year eligibility card to the Epic Poker League that's good through 2016.
Chino Rheem will come into the final table third in chips, but he's not too far behind Jason Mercier.
Rheem first came into poker fame during the 2008 World Series of Poker. Rheem made the first-ever WSOP November Nine and went on to finish in seventh place in that event for nearly $1.8 million. Later on that year, Rheem won the World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Classic for over $1.5 million.
With career earnings over $4.7 million, eight lifetime wins and 40 cashes, Rheem has earned himself an Epic Poker League eligibility card for three years and it's good through 2014.
One of only two players entering the final table under a million in chips, Gavin Smith comes in with 766,000 in chips. He has a career record that boasts 13 wins, 95 cashes and just shy of $5.6 million in lifetime earnings. In 2005, Smith earned the largest win of his career with a $1,128,278 victory at the World Poker Tour Mirage Poker Showdown. In 2010, Smith earned his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet and officially took himself off the "best players without a bracelet" list.
Smith has a three-year card to the Epic Poker League and it's good through 2014. He is currently ranked 102nd on the Global Poker Index ranking list.
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