Wicked Chops Poker Insider

Read more Insider articles →

Posts tagged as:

Tournament of Champions

2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions Top 20 Voting (So Far…)

by Wicked Chops Entity on 4.16.2010 in Poker News | 16 comments

Doyle Brunson is not surprisingly among the fan favorites so far in the WSOP TOC voting.

The WSOP released its top 20 names (so far) in the Tournament of Champions fan voting today. Here’s the list:

Doyle Brunson / Johnny Chan / T.J. Cloutier / Allen Cunningham / Antonio Esfandiari / Sam Farha / Chris Ferguson / Barry Greenstein / Joe Hachem / Jennifer Harman / Dan Harrington / Phil Hellmuth / Phil Ivey / John Juanda / Howard Lederer / Daniel Negreanu / Scotty Nguyen / Greg Raymer / Huck Seed / Erik Seidel

Some pretty surprising results (so far). Let’s break them down into three categories:

1. Where the Eff Are They? Some names we’re surprised are not in the top 20 (yet): Chris Moneymaker, Peter Eastgate, Joe Cada, Erick Lindgren, Dennis Phillips. (<–joke)

2. Seriously? People Care About These Guys? Some names we’re surprised are in the top 20 (so far): Sam Farha (over Moneymaker? did we lose a war?), Dan Harrington, John Juanda (deserves to be there just didn’t think people cared), Huck Seed (ditto).

3. Really? Greg Raymer? …Really? Greg Raymer.

As it stand right now, it’s a competent list that won’t make good TV unless Hellmuth, Negreanu, Ivey, etc. make the final table. We’d like to see some of the online guys who mix up play and go hyper-aggro (Prahlad Friedman, Annette Obrestad, Jason Mercier, and OMGClayAiken, for example) get in there, but it’s probably not going to happen, now matter how many free-throws Spirit Rock can drain in 60 seconds.

Also…Raymer and first-class a-hole non-fan-favorite Farha (just vote for Men the Master while you’re at it) over Moneymaker? Did we mention that?

Who are you most surprised isn’t in the top 20 (yet)?

Tagged as: 2010 WSOP, Tournament of Champions

{ 16 comments }

WSOP Announces New All-Star Tournament of Champions

by Wicked Chops Entity on 3.16.2010 in Poker News | 7 comments

Phil Hellmuth would be among the mortal locks for inclusion in the TOC all-star balloting.

The World Series of Poker has been trying to perfect its Tournament of Champions event for years. Announced yesterday, its latest incarnation is a hybrid of a traditional TOC and an all-star game. Here are the basics:

  • 27 players compete in a $1M freeroll (<–great they’re doing this, btw). The entire final table gets paid, and the winner banks $500,000.
  • 5 automatic bids to previous TOC winners (Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton) and previous year’s WSOP and WSOPE ME winners (Joe Cada, Barry Shulman).
  • 20 spots filled out by fan voting. In order to qualify for fan voting, you must have won a bracelet (Sorry Gus, durrrr…)
  • 2 “sponsor exemptions” (you’re welcome, Gus, durrrr…)
  • The event will be televised on ESPN.

Not a bad idea by the powers that be at the WSOP. First, it gives some money back to the players. Second, it gets some fan participation going. Third, it gives us another potentially high-profile WSOP TV event, which felt somewhat missing last year.

Interestingly, Russ Hamilton was left on the ballot. Russ, who hasn’t been seen in public since this ambush, was NOT invited tot he special WSOP ME winners-only event last year.

Vote for your top 20 at the wsop.com site here and let us know who you picked.

Tagged as: 2010 WSOP, featured, Tournament of Champions

{ 7 comments }

Next Entries →