A Look at the Global Poker League's New York Rounders and San Francisco Rush

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Apr 04, 2016 5 min read Last updated Jul 14, 2016

The Global Poker League (GPL) looks set to take the poker world by storm thanks to its unique format and the bringing together some of the world's best poker talent. Continuing with our series to take a look at each of the 12 GPL franchise, we bring you a look at the rosters of the New York Rounders and San Francisco Rush.

New York Rounders

_{*Denotes wildcard pick.}

Donnie Peters, PokerNews' award-winning Editor-in-Chief, penned his thoughts about the GPL draft and stated he believes team managers needed to not select their rosters based on a player's ability, but on the marketability and personality of the players. Bryn Kenney seems to have done a little bit of that, judging by his team being, in this writer's opinion, one of the stronger rosters with a more fun group of players.

Kenney himself is a colorful character and one who is well known on the world poker circuit. With almost $9.5 million in live tournament winnings, Kenney certainly knows his way around a poker table. Kenney cut his teeth in the online poker world, so should be able to adapt to the anticipated fast-paced format of the GPL. This is also true of his four draft picks.

Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier was Kenney’s first pick and nobody will deny that Mercier is a catch. Hugely successful both in online and live poker, and across a number of poker variants, Mercier is one of the greats of the game. Mercier is used to being in the spotlight and playing under the glare of the cameras and bright lights, so that part of things shouldn't faze him one bit.

Pick two was Tom Marchese, who may be better known to some of you as "kingsofcards," which was his online alias. Marchese is more focused on live poker these days, preferring to play in the $25,000 High Roller events at ARIA in Las Vegas instead of travelling the poker circuit. It will be interesting to see how any travelling effects Marchese because his last non-US cash, not including the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, was back in 2010 when he finished seventh in the European Poker Tour London Main Event.

Kevin MacPhee is another player who could be entertaining during GPL broadcasts. While he is usually focused on playing when playing, MacPhee is willing to participate in interviews and always comes across as a player who likes to have fun away from the tables. MacPhee has almost $5.45 million in live tournament cashes, including an EPT title and two World Series of Poker bracelets, and more than $7.1 million in earnings from the online arena, according to PocketFives.

Jason Wheeler was Kenney’s fourth pick and another player who travels the world playing the circuit when he is not busy grinding out the hours at the virtual felt. Wheeler, 38, was ranked as a high as second in the world for online tournaments in 2013 and has almost $7.15 million in online cashes. In the live arena, Wheeler has amassed $2.712 million in cashes, including a recent WSOP Circuit win in Las Vegas worth $323,236.

As expected, Kenney picked himself as a player manager, and went on to keep it in the family by choosing his brother, Tyler Kenney. The younger of the Kenney's is rapidly approaching $1 million in live tournament winnings, an impressive total aided by his third-place finish in the 2014 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker Main Event, which netted him $213,600.

San Francisco Rush

_{*Denotes wildcard pick.}

Faraz Jaka seems to have taken the approach of selecting players who are both skilled at online and live poker, mirroring himself, the team's manager. With just shy of $4 million in online winnings and almost $5.1 million in live tournament winnings, Jaka is one of the most successful players in the world today.

Phil Galfond was the first pick for Jaka and it's no wonder when you consider his poker prowess. Galfond is predominately an online cash-game player and has a very analytical approach to the game. He will be a key team member away from the tables when it comes to breaking things down, that is for sure.

Jaka selected Tony Gregg as his second pick, and, like Galfond, it is easy to see why. Gregg may not be the most prolific of poker players when it comes to volume, but he has an almost unnatural ability to go deep in a large percentages of tournaments that he graces his presence with. You may recall that Gregg won the $111,111 One Drop High Roller at the 2013 WSOP for over $4.8 million. That result that makes up around half of his live tournament winnings, but Gregg also has a World Poker Tour title and has made the final table of the PCA Main Event three times, so he's no one-hit wonder.

Online, Gregg has $1.7 million in winnings, showing he can adapt to the different formats of poker, and he's also known as a top-level live cash-game player.

Kitty Kuo may not have been the name every manager scrambled to secure, but Jaka made her his No. 3 pick. Kuo has been a regular on the EPT for some while now and although she may only have two six-figure scores to her name so far, she is completely fearless on the felt and will be a formidable opponent for anyone facing her in the GPL. Kuo’s flamboyant style and willingness to chat at the tables is sure to be a hit with viewers when the GPL hits the airwaves.

Anton Wigg was the fourth pick for Jaka and could be an absolute steal because the dashing Swede is a superb poker player. The former EPT Copenhagen champion has cashed for more than $2 million in live poker tournaments and an additional $6.24 million in the online world, where he is better-known as "antesvante."

Jaka is the latest GPL manager to use his wildcard pick on himself. Joining Jaka in the Rush stable is Jonathan Jaffe, a talented professional hailing from Massachusetts. Jaffe has $2.175 million in live tournament winnings and is a regular at the World Series of Poker and on the World Poker Tour. In 2008, Jaffe was the runner-up in the WPT World Poker Finals for $670,636 before claiming his first WPT title with a win in the 2014 WPT Montreal Main Event for $409,657.

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