Tournament of Champions Returns to WSOP
After a three-year hiatus, the Tournament of Champions (TOC) is returning to the WSOP schedule, with some interesting tweaks to the format and promotion.
The TOC has a fairly brief history within the context of the WSOP; it was run in 2004, 2005 and 2006 with varying rules for qualification and field sizes. In the first incarnation, ten invited players competed in a winner-take-all event won by Annie Duke. In 2005, 114 players battled it out to claim the prizes awarded to the top nine; Mike Matusow claimed the top prize that year.
The last we heard of the TOC was as a 27 player event in 2006 that paid top nine and saw Hall of Famer Mike Sexton come out on top.
The latest revision resulted in a 27 player field that will duke it out for a $1 million prize pool. First will be worth $500k, second $250k, 3rd 100k and 4th through 9th take home $25k for their efforts.
That field will be made up of two types of players: automatic qualifiers and fan favorites. The five automatic qualifiers: Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, Joe Cada and Barry Shulman. Additionally, 20 more players will be drawn from a pool of 521 living WSOP bracelet holders; public voting will determine which of the 20 get the invite.
Voting is now open over at WSOP.com.
For those of you quick with the mathematics, you’ll notice that the above tallies to a number a shade under 27; those two missing seats will be filled by “sponsor exemptions”. No word on the details as of yet, but one would expect it to tie in with WSOP.com, Everest or some other primary sponsor.
Logistics: the tournament will start Sunday, June 27, 2010 and play down to nine players; final table play will occur on July 4th. ESPN will reportedly be broadcasting the event.
WSOP qualifiers are starting soon on major sites, and Full Tilt Poker will have no shortage of offerings. Before you sign up at FTP, be sure to read this first.
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