[shaniac]

Sirio,

I think there was an anomally at the Rio that caused some points-ties and 7 extra qualifiers.

The whole TOC-system this year was kind of goofy. They did a complete 180 with this year's TOC, changing it from an elite 1-table tourney to a somewhat amazing opportunity for Circuit Tour players to get a bite of this freeroll. The promotion was definetely responsible for higher attendance at the CT events and I know that some pros made appearances at the events because of the overlay that the TOC-requirements were offering.

I don't have a copy of the rules handy, but I assure you it was made CLEAR that there would be no invites to the WSOP TOC 2005. A lot of great players and rookies alike came out to play the CT events and those who made the final two tables were the only ones who deserved a seat at Caesar's.

There are no ifs, ands or maybes related to the issue and I'm somewhat stupified that we are still talking about it. Harrah's messed up by inviting those three individuals randomly and the messed-up nature of the situation has snowballed with Hellmuth at the final table.