World Series of Poker Revives All – Star Free Roll!
In 2006, WSOP decided to put a stop to their annual Tournament of Champions and discontinued the $1,000,000 free roll tournament indefinitely.
Thankfully, this year Harrah‘s Entertainment (WSOP Owners) have decided to “reinvent” and revive it starting this year. The tournament will take place this June 27, at The Rio. They will play down to a final table of 9, and then reconvene July 4th to play out the final table. It will be broadcast on ESPN. This year, first place will pay $500,000, the runner-up gets $250,000, third place earns $100,000 and the fourth through ninth place finishers will earn $25,000 each.
“The Tournament of Champions brand has heritage in delivering the big moments,” said Harrah‘s VP Ty Stewart. “We’re thrilled to reinvent it around a model that should elevate the game by engaging millions of poker fans.”
Entry into the event is a little different than it has been in the past, focusing more on popularity than on win rate, however usually the most popular poker players are guys with a personality and a good win rate! All living WSOP bracelet holders are eligible for votes on WSOP.com, and voting happens between March 15 – June 15. The top 20 vote getter’s will have free entry into the tournament. Five players will not need to get any votes, however. Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, Joe Cada and Barry Shulman. All have either won a TOC, a World Series of Poker Main event, or a European Main event. 2 Other seats are up for grabs, but full details on how to get those seats are still being released (it looks like they will go tosponsors, who will likely give them out in contests…)
“Tournaments like the Tournament of Champions help elevate poker to the level it deserves and I am honored to participate,” said winner Annie Duke. “Winning the Tournament of Champions marks one of the most memorable events in my poker career and I’m ecstatic that the WSOP is hosting this prestigious event.”
