Tournament of Champions this year?

[kitaristi0]

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LAS VEGAS - August 24, 2005 - Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:HET) said today the World Series of Poker 2005 Tournament of Champions (TOC), a $2 million, free-roll tournament, featuring a select group of poker's biggest names, will be held November 6-8 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The final nine players from the World Series of Poker's 2005 main event are eligible to join more than 100 top players who qualified for the TOC at five World Series of Poker Circuit events earlier this year. The event will be taped for telecast by ESPN.

Among those eligible to participate in the TOC are top-ranked professional players such as Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Antonio Esfandiari, Jennifer Harman, T.J. Cloutier, Chris Ferguson, Robert Williamson, Russ Hamilton , Yosh Nakano , Michael Mizrachi, Tony Le, Eric Cloutier, and Mimi Tran.

Other qualifiers include reigning WSOP Champion Joseph Hachem, who won $7.5 million at this year's main event, and fellow final-table millionaires Steve Dannenman, Derek Barch, Aaron Kanter, Andrew Black, Scott Lazar, Daniel Bergsdorf, Brad Kondracki, and Mike Matusow.

The TOC is a free-roll event - players aren't required to put up any of their own money to enter - that will award $2 million in prize money. First prize will be $1 million, second $325,000, third $250,000, fourth $150,000, fifth $100,000, sixth $75,000, seventh $50,000, and eighth and ninth $25,000.

"This Tournament of Champions is just one way of saying 'thank you' to the skilled and talented players who have helped make the World Series of Poker the richest sporting event on the planet," said Jeffrey Pollack, vice president of sports and entertainment marketing for Harrah's. "We're especially proud to host it at Caesars Palace, the premier luxury brand in the Harrah's portfolio."


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Who?

Henry Tran has got to be the favorite.

[Kevmath]

Russ Hamilton is a former World Champion, Yosh Nokano is a long time professional, who mostly plays high-limit at the Bike. They both made the top 20 at the Rio Circuit event I believe.

[kitaristi0]

I think ESPN would be better off just getting the same players as last year, just substitute Hachem for Raymer and Harman for Annie Duke.

I liked the old format better. Inviting 100 and paying 9 is just another tournament. Inviting 10 and only paying the winner makes things much more tense, IMO.

But I'm a sucker for stupid ex-wife jokes, so I'm sure to watch this when it gets to ESPN.