WSOP Tournament of Champions Returns as Poker All-Star Game

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has one. So does the National Football League (NFL). Now, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) will introduce an All-Star Game featuring 27 players in a made-for-television Tournament of Champions.

The event has been scheduled to take place over two days during the 2010 WSOP, beginning on June 27th with a final table taking place on July 4th. No new WSOP tournaments begin on either day, meaning that attending the soon-to-be prestigious event won’t take away from other festivities at the Rio. ESPN will air the All-Star Game, being dubbed the $1 Million 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions Freeroll, on August 3rd.

Five entries into poker’s version of an All-Star Game are automatic and are awarded to the three prior WSOP Tournament of Champions winners and the reigning WSOP and WSOP Europe Main Event champs. The first Tournament of Champions took place in 2004, when UB.com and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke earned a $2 million winner-take-all prize after besting Phil Hellmuth heads-up to become the series’ first winner.

In 2005, Mike Matusow defeated DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins to earn gold. Others at the final table included Hellmuth and Steve Dannenmann. Matusow won $1 million for his efforts and a total of 117 players entered. In 2006, World Poker Tour (WPT) Host and Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton came out on top, outlasting PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu. Matusow finished third that year in an impressive showing and Sexton banked $1 million for the win. Also gaining automatic entry to the 2010 Tournament of Champions are Joe Cada and Barry Shulman, who took down the 2009 WSOP and WSOP Europe Main Events, respectively.

Two slots in the 27-player field will be sponsor exemptions. WSOP officials will award both seats, although details on how they would be dished out were not available at press time. The general public will determine the final 20 seats in a fan vote. Balloting opened today at Noon ET on WSOP.com and will close on June 15th at Midnight ET on WSOP.com. The top 20 vote-getters will gain entry into the newly-forged $1 million freeroll.

The only requirement for voting by the general public is that a player must be a WSOP bracelet holder, eliminating the likes of Tom “durrrr” Dwan from contention. Open voting for the 2009 class of the Poker Hall of Fame led to Dwan being included as one of the final ten nominees; a committee later struck him of his bid, charging that he did not stand the test of time, one of several criteria needed for enshrinement. There are 521 living WSOP bracelet holders. Click here and vote now!

The top nine players in the Poker All-Star Game will finish in the money, with the tournament’s winner pocketing $500,000. The runner-up will bank $250,000, while the third place finisher will score $100,000. All other players in the top nine will see their bank accounts grow by $25,000. In case you’re wondering who is in the running to vie for the half-million dollar top prize, the WSOP will provide a list of the top 50 vote-getters after every ballot is cast on its website.

With a considerable amount of money at stake in poker’s version of an All-Star Game, Harrah’s officials will take steps against players artificially inflating vote counts. A press release distributed by the WSOP on Monday explains, “In an effort to avoid ballot-stuffing, the tally of individual votes won’t be divulged during the open voting period and balloters will be required to complete an authentication process to ensure one vote per e-mail address.”

WSOP officials expect the Tournament of Champions Freeroll to become an annual staple of the extravaganza in Las Vegas. Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment Vice President Ty Stewart noted in the same press release, “The Tournament of Champions brand has heritage in delivering the big moments. We’re thrilled to reinvent it 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 its here to stay.”

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on the WSOP All-Star Game, this year’s version of the Tournament of Champions.