Mar
17
by Chad Holloway
I remember a few years back watching the Tournament of Champions on ESPN where Annie Duke defeated a stacked final table to take home $1 million. She outlast some of the biggest names in poker including Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey. It was literally the best poker players in the world facing off against each other for a winner-take-all prize. The tournament continued for two more years (although with slightly different formats), but was discontinued after 2006. I’m happy to say that Harrah’s recently announced that they will be brining back the tournament at the 2010 World Series of Poker.
This is an absolutely great idea. The tournament will feature 27 players competing for a $1 million prize pool, with the winner taking home $500,000, the second-place finisher receiving $250,000, $100,000 for third, and $25,000 for finishing fourth-ninth. The field will consist of the three past TOC winners (Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, and Annie Duke) along with the reigning WSOP and WSOPE main-event winners (Joe Cada and Barry Shulman). Two spots will be reserved for qualifiers (they may be reserved for online qualifiers). The exciting part of it all is that the other 20 spots will be given away based on a public poll at wsop.com.
According to Ty Stewart, Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment vice, the WSOP is, “thrilled to reinvent (the Tournament of Champions) around a model that should elevate the game by engaging millions of poker fans. We have received a lot of input from players and their affinity for the TOC, and we are excited for them and the fans and hope it’s here to stay.”
Here is the catch: only players who have won a WSOP bracelet in the past will be eligible to be voted in, so many of the most successful online pros or cash game players won’t make the cut. This means no Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan or even our beloved Phil Laak. At wsop.com, they have a list of the current 521 surviving WSOP bracelet holders for voters to choose from. The poll is open now and poker fans can vote for their favorite players until the poll closes on June 15, 2010 at midnight. The tournament itself will take place at the WSOP on June 27 and will be broadcast on ESPN in a two-hour episode on Aug. 3.
I’m pretty excited to have the chance to vote for some of my favorite players. Although I can’t vote for my man the Unabomber, I did vote for his lady, Jennifer Tilly, and good friend, Antonio Esfandiari. I am also encouraging everyone I know (including you) to vote for David “Devilfish” Ulliott. Its been awhile since I’ve seen the Devilfish and I think he is one of the most entertaining characters in poker. It’d be great to see him in this tournament, so you all should throw a vote his way. So without further adieu, here are my twenty votes for the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions:
David “Devilfish” Ulliott
Antonio Esfandiari
Phil Ivey
Daniel Negreanu
Jason Mercier
Robert Williamson III
Jennifer Tilly
Annette Obrestad
Johnny Chan
Erik Seidel
Amarillo Slim Preston
Billy Baxter
Chris Ferguson
T.J. Cloutier
Scotty Nguyen
Jennifer Harman
Erick Lindgren
Jeffrey Lisandro