The 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament of Champions kicks off on June 27th from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and takes on an all-star game format. Twenty-seven players will take to the felts in the high-stakes $1 million freeroll, which wraps up Independence Day after a one-week break. The tournament will air on cable station ESPN on August 3rd and feature 25 bracelet winners flanking two online qualifiers. PocketFives.com is home to a bevy of bracelet winners, many of whom have been ardently campaigning for your vote. Remember, voting on WSOP.com closes on June 15th at Midnight ET.
UB.com pro Matt mattg1983Graham won his second bracelet in 2009 after topping the field in the World Championship of Pot Limit Omaha for $679,000. Heads-up, he defeated Vitaly Lunkin in a final table that also included Josh Arieh and Barry barryg1 Greenstein. In a thread that appeared soon after voting opened on the WSOP’s website, Graham implored, “Vote for me plz! You can use your ballot to vote for up to 20 people, but you can just vote for one person if you want to and obviously that would be best for me.”
Also lobbying for the poker playing public to cast their ballot was New York’s Dave Cook, who told the community that he doubted any online poker players could crack the top 20 in the voting. In a thread in Poker Discussion, Cook noted, “Apparently, 20 of the players are going to be voted in by public. Sucks because I doubt any online stars are going to make it. Who does everyone want to see? I’d say Ivey, Negreanu, and Hellmuth are definitely in.” In a conference call held in recent weeks, WSOP officials revealed that Ivey is the top vote-getter for the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions.
In the thread Cook started, names of a slew of PocketFives.com bracelet winners began pouring in. Cliff JohnnyBaxJosephy’s name was dropped, as were Keven StammoggStammen and Corwin mig.comMackey. In 2008, PocketFives.com members Grant drossxyuHinkle and Blair blur5f6Hinkle became the first set of brothers to win bracelets in the same year. Others mentioned in the thread included Steve MrSmokey1Billirakis, Jason treysfull21Mercier, and Peter Belabacsi Traply.
Also weighing in since voting began for the WSOP Tournament of Champions was Steve schtoofBaldwin, father of Eric basebaldyBaldwin. The UB.com pro’s first bracelet came last year in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament for $521,000. Baldwin came within inches of a second bracelet 11 events later, but took third in the World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em for another $259,000.
In a thread elegantly entitled Pimpin for Basebaldy, the elder Baldwin remarked, “Go here to vote for my son (Eric Baldwin) to play in the WSOP Tourney of Champs if you would please.”
If you’re at a loss as to which members of the PocketFives community have won bracelets, here’s a list of Las Vegas hardware winners since 2006, broken down by year, according to our WSOP final table results:
2009:
Jason Mercier (treysfull21)
Rami Boukai (arbianight)
Keven Stammen (Stamdogg)
Brock Parker (t soprano)
Brian Lemke (ship_the_perc)
Zac Fellows (zacpacker)
Leo Wolpert (Superfluous Man)
Eric Baldwin (basebaldy)
Jordan Smith (scarface_79)
Ray Foley (WirdPair)
Matt Graham (mattg1983)
Peter Traply (Belabacsi)
Joe Cada (jcada99) – Automatic entry into Tournament of Champions
2008:
Grant Hinkle (drossxyu)
Michael Banducci (worldsgrtest)
Blair Hinkle (blur5f6)
Barry Greenstein (barryg1)
Sebastian Ruthenberg (miamivce)
Davidi Kitai (legrouzin)
Alexandre Gomes (Allingomes)
Matt Graham (mattg1983)
2007:
Steve Billirakis (MrSmokey1)
Mike Spegal (BOBCATSPEGAL)
William Durkee (padirk165)
Corwin Mackey (mig.com)
Scott Clements (BigRiskky)
Blair Rodman (Blair Rodman)
2006:
Jon Friedberg (Pokertrip)
Ian Johns (Ian J)
Scott Clements (BigRiskky)
Only bracelet winners are eligible for inclusion in the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions. Remember, voting ends on June 15th at Midnight ET. Click here to vote!