World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions

The World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions is an invitational freeroll poker event.

The first event happened on 1 September 2004 with invitations only being extended to some of the most well-known names on the poker tournament circuit.

It is now an annual freeroll tournament with players able to qualify by being one of the top 18 finishers of any World Series of Poker (WSOP) circuit events (held before the actual WSOP) or by reaching the final table of the WSOP $10,000 No Limit Hold 'Em Main Event. In 2005, the first year of this format, controversy erupted when big-name players Phil Hellmuth Jr, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan, all former Main Event champions and the three players with the most overall World Series bracelets, were able to compete in the Tournament of Champions without qualifying. These players were given sponsor's exemptions by Pepsi, who put up the $2 million prize pool. Despite public protests from other players (particularly Daniel Negreanu and Paul Phillips), ESPN and Harrah's Entertainment had no choice but to allow these players to compete; Hellmuth would end up finishing third, while Chan and Brunson just missed the final table, coming in 13th and 10th, respectively (interestingly, both were knocked out by Brandon Adams, who would be eliminated from the final table first). From 2006 onward, Harrah's will reserve the right to let in up to 6 players via sponsor's exemptions.

Wins in this event do not count as official WSOP bracelets, but the winner receives a large trophy in the shape of the official World Series of Poker logo.

2004

The winner took home a $2,000,000 prize. No other participants received prize money.

Position	Competitor
1st	Annie Duke
2nd	Phil Hellmuth Jr.
3rd	Howard Lederer
4th	Johnny Chan
5th	Greg Raymer
6th	Doyle Brunson
7th	Daniel Negreanu
8th	Phil Ivey
9th	T. J. Cloutier
10th	David "Chip" Reese

2005

The 2005 event took place between November 6 and November 8 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Position	Competitor	Prize
1st	Mike Matusow	$1,000,000
2nd	Hoyt Corkins	$325,000
3rd	Phil Hellmuth Jr.	$250,000
4th	Tony Bloom	$150,000
5th	Steve Dannenmann	$100,000
6th	Grant Lang	$75,000
7th	David Levi	$50,000
8th	Keith Sexton	$25,000
9th	Brandon Adams	$25,000

2006

The 2006 field of twenty-seven players included the 9 players who made the final table of the 2005 WSOP main event, the winners of the 11 WSOP Circuit events in the preceding calendar year, and some sponsor exemptions.

Position	Competitor	Prize
1st	Mike Sexton	$1,000,000
2nd	Daniel Negreanu	$325,000
3rd	Mike Matusow	$250,000
4th	Chris Reslock	$150,000
5th	Andrew Black	$100,000
6th	Darrell Dicken	$75,000
7th	Chris Ferguson	$50,000
8th	Thang "Kido" Pham	$25,000
9th	Daniel Bergsdorf	$25,000

• Joe Hachem

• Steve Dannenmann

• John "Tex" Barch

• Aaron Kanter

• Scott Lazar

• Brad Kondracki

• Gregg Merkow (Grand Casino Tunica)

• Vinnie Vinh (Caesars Indiana)

• Abraham Korotki (Harrah's Atlantic City)

• Jeffrey King (Caesars Atlantic City)

• John Spadavecchia (Caesars Palace)

• Peter Feldman (Harrah's New Orleans)

• Clint Baskin (Harrah's Lake Tahoe)

• Phil Hellmuth

• Doyle Brunson

• Gus Hansen

• Mike O'Malley

• Sarah Strom (contest winner)

External links

• Article on 2005 event by Daniel Negreanu

• Entry on 2005 event from Paul Phillips' blog

• Veni, Vidi, Vici! (coverage of 2005 event)