The World Series of Poker decided to open up the selection process to the fans in regards to which poker pros will get a very exclusive seat at this year’s Tournament of Champions event. Of the 27 spots in the tournament, 20 of those positions will be decided through online voting in what basically boils down to the ultimate poker popularity contest. Harrah’s, who is running and supervising the progress of the poll, has released the names of the players that currently make up the top 20 in voters eyes, with few surprises showing up in the mix.
One thing that all of the front-runners have in common is that they tend to get the lions share of the media and marketing support, making them the most recognizable faces in the game, but not necessarily the most successfully players in all cases. There doesn’t appear to be a single name on the list that belongs to a player that tends to stay out of the limelight, though I would have to figure that some players are getting a lot of votes due to more recent success.
Five players don’t have to worry about getting enough votes, as five spots were pre-reserved for the last three Tournament of Champions winners (Mike Sexton, Mike Matusow and Annie Duke), and the current WSOP (Joe Cada) and WSOPE (Barry Shulman) champions. The remaining two spots in the tournament are being held for sponsor exemptions, and it’s likely that these will be given away through massive qualifier tournaments online.
The TOC isn’t just about increasing their popularity either, 1st place will take home a cool $500,000, needing only to survive three tables worth of opponents in the process. Voting ends midnight on June 15th, with more than 250,000 votes cast so far.
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