News
TOP 20 VOTE-GETTERS FOR WSOP TOC REVEALED
Jun 16 2010 03:56 PM EST
LAS VEGAS – June 16, 2010 – Poker’s very first fan-voted Tournament of Champions will feature 20 of the game’s most notable players, as 355,081 votes were cast to determine who will compete for $1 million in prize money in the 2010 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions on Sunday, June 27 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Phil Ivey, fresh off his WSOP Main Event final table finish in November, narrowly eclipsed Daniel Negreanu for the most votes overall by the slimmest of margins, just 28 votes. Voting was open on WSOP.com from March 15 through June 15 at midnight.
After verifying and tabulating all valid email addresses of the voters, this is who the public voted for and the number of votes each person in the Top 20 received:
| RANK | NAME | VOTES |
| 1 | PHIL IVEY | 16,267 |
| 2 | DANIEL NEGREANU | 16,239 |
| 3 | DOYLE BRUNSON | 13,796 |
| 4 | PHIL HELLMUTH | 12,673 |
| 5 | CHRIS FERGUSON | 11,585 |
| 6 | ALLEN CUNNINGHAM | 10,486 |
| 7 | JOHNNY CHAN | 10,434 |
| 8 | SCOTTY NGUYEN | 9,834 |
| 9 | BARRY GREENSTEIN | 9,806 |
| 10 | JOHN JUANDA | 8,835 |
| 11 | ERIK SEIDEL | 8,802 |
| 12 | JENNIFER HARMAN | 8,206 |
| 13 | HUCK SEED | 8,180 |
| 14 | DAN HARRINGTON | 7,342 |
| 15 | T.J. CLOUTIER | 6,281 |
| 16 | SAMMY FARHA | 6,085 |
| 17 | HOWARD LEDERER | 5,596 |
| 18 | GREG RAYMER | 5,404 |
| 19 | JOE HACHEM | 5,272 |
| 20 | ANTONIO ESFANDIARI | 5,129 |
| AUTOMATIC | ANNIE DUKE | 2004 TOC CHAMPION |
| AUTOMATIC | MIKE MATUSOW | 2005 TOC CHAMPION |
| AUTOMATIC | MIKE SEXTON | 2006 TOC CHAMPION |
| AUTOMATIC | JOE CADA | 2009 WSOP MAIN EVENT CHAMP |
| AUTOMATIC | BARRY SHULMAN | 2009 WSOP EUROPE MAIN EVENT CHAMPION |
| SPONSOR EXEMPTION | BERTRAND "ElkY" GROSPELLIER | WSOP ACADEMY PLAYOFF WINNER |
| SPONSOR EXEMPTION | ANDREW BARTON | WSOP.COM UK QUALIFIER |
World Series of Poker will now go about contacting the above 20 eligible players, to determine their availability for this freeroll invitation.
In the event any of the 20 voted-in players cannot participate, the next highest-eligible vote-getter will be afforded the opportunity. This process would continue until all 20 players are confirmed as participants.
“We’re very pleased with the response to this new format,” said WSOP vice president Ty Stewart. “The selections show that poker has a mass fan base that is knowledgeable about the history of the World Series of Poker.”
Play will convene at the Rio on Sunday, June 27, 2010 at 12 noon to begin the tournament. Players will play until they bust out or complete four one-hour levels, whichever comes first.
Then all remaining players return the next day, on Monday, June 28 at 12 noon to play up to an additional four levels.
Play will then halt at that point, and all remaining players will return on Sunday, July 4, 2010 to play for their share of 1,000,000 dollars and the title of 2010 WSOP TOC Champion. The tournament times and dates have been scheduled to minimize conflict with other WSOP events. WSOP Event #46 final table will begin at 4:00 PM on June 27 as part of the scheduling.
ESPN will televise this event as part of their coverage of the 41st Annual World Series of Poker, with a two-hour special broadcast set to air on Tuesday, August 3 at 8:00 PM ET.
The WSOP Tournament of Champions was started by the WSOP in 2004, after Harrah’s took ownership of the World Series of Poker brand. In the inaugural event, ten top names were invited to participate in the freeroll event structured as a winner-take-all. Duke won the event at the Rio.
In 2005, the TOC was won by Matusow at Caesars Palace, with an expanded field of 114 entrants competing in the freeroll, with the top nine places cashing.
The TOC event last took place in 2006 at the Rio, when 27 of the games greatest took to the felt in the freeroll, with the final table all walking away with prize money and 2009 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Sexton walking away with the top prize.
This year’s TOC will be a No Limit Texas Hold’em tournament with the top nine places being paid. First place will win $500,000, the runner-up gets $250,000, third place earns $100,000 and the fourth through ninth place pockets $25,000 each.
