On March 27th, Caesars Palace in Las Vegas will come alive with poker players battling it out as part of Dream Team Poker‘s second tournament. The $550 buy-in event is nearly sold out and will be headlined by “Team Favorites,” consisting of Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, and Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss.
Hellmuth owns a record 11 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and was the champion of the 1989 Main Event. At the time, he was just 24 years-old, the youngest WSOP Main Event winner ever. It was an accolade that would stand for 19 years before being shattered by Danish poker pro Peter Eastgate in 2008. Matusow and Buss are also staples of the poker spotlight, having competed on televised competitions like GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” Buss is hardly an amateur, however. He took third in a $2,500 buy-in Limit Seven Card Stud tournament during the 1991 WSOP for $33,000.
An all-women’s team will also battle it out at Caesars Palace next week. The trio is dubbed “Team Yo Mama” and consists of the last women standing from the 2008 and 2007 WSOP Main Events, Ultimate Bet Star Player Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho. Lacey Jones will round out “Team Yo Mama,” which represents fierce competition for others buying into the live tournament. In addition, Caesars Palace will see the invasion of PICClub.com Team 1, consisting of T.J. Cloutier, Tom McEvoy, and Kathy Liebert, who is fresh off finishing as the runner up in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament to Steve Brecher.
The 2007 and 2006 WSOP Main Event winners will also be in attendance, as Jerry Yang and Jamie Gold will be forming their very own Dream Team Poker squads. Bodog pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, whose Team Bluff won the first Dream Team Poker tournament at the Hard Rock last November, will also head to Caesars. He’ll be joined by “Survivor: China” contestant Jean-Robert Bellande, his colleague at the online poker site. Two pros from Doyle’s Room will also be in attendance, Todd Brunson and Hoyt Corkins. You can also find WSOP November Nine member Dennis Phillips, 2006 WSOP Main Event runner up Paul Wasicka, 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event final table member Scott Fischman, and online poker pro and Poker News Daily contributor Shane “Shaniac” Schleger.
Others slated to compete include Hard Rock Individual Champion Jason Lilly, Mark Seif, Joe Sebok, Jeff Madsen, Kristy Gazes, Liz Liu, Quinn Do, Erica Schoenberg, Amir Vahedi, Young Phan, David Levy, J.J. Liu, David Daneshgar, Mark Gregorich, Kenna James, Marsha Waggoner, Kenny Tran, and Shawn Sheikhan. Outside of the poker world, expect to find actor Mekhi Phifer and basketball player Chris Mills competing under the team name “The Sole Survivors.” Over 100 teams (or 300 players) are scheduled to appear. Each team receives customized jerseys to take to the felts with as well as entry into an exclusive party on March 27th.
Jim Pedulla, Director of the poker room at Caesars Palace, commented in a press release, “Dream Team Poker offers a creative structure to team poker and we are proud to host this event in the World Series of Poker tournament room, which is also the site of NBC Heads-Up Poker and daily tournaments.” The feature table of the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship ended with Huck Seed sweeping the best of three series against Go Daddy Girl and Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso.
Day 1 of the tournament will conclude when 27 players, or the final three tables, remain. The tournament schedule for the Dream Team Poker Caesars Palace event is as follows:
Friday, March 27th
6:00pm: Tournament registration opens
Saturday, March 28th
12:00 Noon: Day 1
Sunday, March 29th
12:00 Noon: Day 2 followed by money and trophy presentations
With an estimated total prize pool of $150,000, the first place team will pocket $45,000. The second place team will grab $22,500, third place will receive $10,800, fourth place will bank $7,200, and fifth place will earn $4,500. The tournament’s individual winner will take home $20,400 and the top 18 players will finish in the money.
