Posts Tagged ‘tournament of champions’

WSOP 2010 Tournament Of Champions Announced

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

One of the most exciting World Series of Poker events is the Tournament of Champions, an invitation only $1 million freeroll for the world’s top poker players, who are admitted based upon a vote. After more than 350,000 ballots were counted the final lineup for the tournament was announced.

Five players were already shoe-ins for the tournament – Joe Cada, Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, Barry Shulman and Mike Sexton – and Andrew Barton and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier were also automatically entered as Team PokerStars sponsor exemptions. However, this year all the rest of the players were decided upon based on a vote.

Ty Stewart, vice president of the WSOP, spoke about the voting and the results. He said, “We’re very pleased with the response to this new format. The selections show that poker has a mass fan base that is knowledgeable about the history of the World Series of Poker.”

I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. The list of poker stars voted into the tournament, and the number of votes they received are as follows:

1. Phil Ivey with 16,267 votes

2. Daniel Negreanu with 16, 239 votes

3. Doyle Brunson with 13,796 votes

4. Phil Hellmuth with 12,673 votes

5. Chris Ferguson with 11,585 votes

6. Allen Cunningham with 10,486 votes

7. Johnny Chan with 10,434 votes

8. Scotty Nguyen with 9,806 votes

9. Barry Greenstein with 9,806 votes

10. John Juanda with 8,835 votes

11. Erik Seidel with 8,802 votes

12. Jennifer Harman with 8,206 votes

13. Huck Seed with 8,180 votes

14. Dan Harrington with 7,342 votes

15. T.J. Cloutier with 6,281 votes

16. Sammy Farha with 6,085 votes

17. Howard Lederer with 5,596 votes

18. Grey Raymer with 5,404 votes

19. Joe Hachem with 5,272 votes

20. Antonio Esfandiari with 5,129 votes

WSOP Tournament of Champions is Back

Friday, March 19th, 2010

The Tournament of Champions, one of the most exciting all-star events hosted by the WSOP, is coming back this summer. The tournament was shelved in 2006, but is back due to popular demand. The tournament is a $1 million freeroll for the top 20 bracelet holders of WSOP tournaments past. It should be one of the most exciting tournaments of the summer!

Who determines which players will take part in the Tournament of Champions? Poker fans like you and me! The polls opened on March 15 and will remain open until June 15 at the WSOP website. Any previous WSOP bracelet winner is eligible. Additionally, five players have already been automatically selected to take part in the tournament. These players are Joe Cada (the reigning WSOP Main Event champion), Barry Shulman (winner of the Main Event in WSOP Europe this year), and Annie Duke, Mike Sexton and Mike Matusow (previous winners of the WSOP Tournament of Champions).

The tournament is scheduled to begin on June 27 and will take place at the Rio. Players will compete until they are narrowed down to a final table of 9 players and the final table will be played on July 4. Players are playing for their share of the $1 million prize as well as the prestigious title of Tournament of Champions winner. First place will receive $500,000; second place takes home $100,000; and the rest of the players at the final table will take home $25,000.