This has been quite a week for the online poker community. On Monday night, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seized the largely dormant Bodog.comdomain name. The next morning, Bodog founder Calvin Ayre was indictedon charges that included money laundering and operating an illegal gambling business. On Wednesday, Federated Sports and Gaming, the parent company of the Epic Poker League, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

A statement that appeared on Federated’s website summarized, “Our company needs a new start.”

PocketFives reached out to former “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up and current Epic Poker League Commissioner Annie Duke, but our e-mail was not returned as of press time.

What the effect on players will be remains to be seen. The same statement indicated that the company plans to continue its popular brands going forward: “Our goal is to keep the Epic Poker League and all of our key initiatives – including the Global Poker Index, EpicPoker.com, the Epic Poker game on Facebook, and the Heartland Poker Tour – moving forward with a continued spirit of innovation.”

Poker pro Jon pokertripFriedberg (pictured) posted on Facebook shortly after the announcement, “I sure hope @HPTJen, @HPTGreg, and all other HPT folks don’t get screwed out of the greatness they created by FSG’s bankruptcy.” The Heartland Poker Tour, or HPT, has its next event scheduled starting Friday at the River City Casino and Lumiere Place in St. Louis, Missouri. It’s unknown whether the event will continue as planned.

The reaction from the poker community on Twitter was largely skewed against Epic. Kevin kevmathMathers Tweeted on Wednesday, “For those that weren’t fans of the EPL or Annie: If this happened yesterday, it could have been part of Overdue Tuesday with the Bodog/Ayre news.” Bracelet winner Scott r_a_y Montgomery bagged, “Well, the Epic Poker league lasted two events longer than I predicated before going under. So long.”

On TwoPlusTwo, Todd tbt4653 Terry argued, “For them to launch the EPL without enough capital to get through the first season is a disgrace.”

The same Federated statement indicated that the company was looking to partner with “another firm that shares our passion and vision – a process we had been working toward prior to the filing.”

The Epic Poker League, engineered by Duke and former World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, has been airing on Velocity and CBS since October. Its most recent Main Event was held in December and featured PocketFives member Chris SLOPPYKLODKlodnicki (pictured) coming away with the title and $801,000. Klodnicki defeated Andrew luckychewyLichtenberger heads-up in a final table that also included Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, two-time bracelet winner Scott BigRiskky Clements, and Joe Tehan.

In a blog posted in August on CardPlayer, PokerStarspro Daniel Negreanu seemingly forecasted the demise of the Epic Poker League in its original form. “Kid Poker” wrote, “I don’t believe this product will resonate with the public and, based on my intimate knowledge of how these types of things work, I don’t think it’s possible to bring in enough revenue to survive. The only legitimate chance the league has to survive is if regulation happened in the U.S. and they were able to create an online poker site.”

One poster on TwoPlusTwo echoed Negreanu’s sentiments, saying, “With all the praise coming from the players for incredible accommodations, add-ons, dealers, perks, etc., it was obvious they are losing more money than an internet company in the heydays of the dot-com bubble, and, with no hope of legalization of online poker in the U.S. anytime soon, they had no choice but to fold.”

The Epic Poker League came into being last year and hawked $20,000 buy-in, rake-free Main Events with $400,000 added to the prize pool. The inaugural season was due to culminate in a $1 million freeroll.

Epic qualified 218 players to take part in its Main Events based on a variety of criteria. Two-, three-, and five-year “cards” were bestowed upon players, and the recipients of the latter included heavy-hitters like Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, and Phil Ivey.

In September, Epic Poker League officials indefinitely suspended Full Tilt front men Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer, Duke’s brother, from their events following an amended Black Friday complaint from the U.S. Department of Justice. Neither Ferguson nor Lederer had participated in an Epic Poker League event prior to the announcement.

Read the entire Epic Poker League statement.