Back in 2006, the World Series of Poker introduced the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship, a tournament designed to determine the game's greatest all-around player. The event was originally played in a H.O.R.S.E. format, but now it's morphed into a rotation of eight games — limit hold'em, Omaha hi-low, razz, seven-card stud, stud hi-low, no-limit hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, and 2-7 triple draw lowball.
The tournament, which was created at the request of the players back in 2006, attracted 143 entrants in its first year. David "Chip" Reese ended up winning the inaugural event for $1,716,000, and since then some of the game's best have laid claim to the title (see chart below).
According to the WSOP, "poker greats consider the winner of the event the best all-around player because it demonstrates he or she can outplay the competition in a wide range of game variations with high stakes on the line."
There have also been some noteworthy milestones, which we'll highlight for you here:
- Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi is the only player to win the Chip Reese Trophy twice.
- Seven other players have final tabled the event twice, including John Hanson, Andy Bloch, Bruno Fitoussi, Matt Glantz, David Singer, Barry Greenstein, and Huck Seed.
- Last year's champ, Matthew Ashton, became the first non-American to win the title. He did so by defeating American Don Nguyen in heads-up play (in 2006 and 2011, the final table of this event was comprised solely of Americans).
- No woman has ever cashed in this event.
- Andy Bloch and Barry Greenstein lead the all-time cashing list in this event with four cashes each.
- The $50,000 buy-in is the second-most expensive of the 65 events at the 2014 WSOP.
Not only will the eventual winner take home a WSOP gold bracelet and a large payday, they'll have their name inscribed on the commemorative "Chip Reese Trophy," which is named in honor of the inaugural winner, who passed away in 2007. "The iconic trophy was first added for the event's champion in 2008, with the winner keeping the top part of the trophy for the year, while his name is engraved on the bottom half, etched forever in history," the WSOP explains.
The biggest names in poker are expected to take part in this tournament, but some who've already stated that they'll be forking over $50,000 are Gus Hansen, Dan Heimiller, Ben Yu, Robert Mizrachi, Randy Ohel, Vanessa Selbst, Mike Gorodinsky, and the defending champ Matthew Ashton. In addition there have been satellites running the past two days, so we'll see a handful of qualifiers taking their shot, all hoping to add their name to this prestigious list:
Former $50,000 Poker Players' Championship Winners
| Year | Winner | Prize | # of Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|
| 2006 | Chip Reese | $1,716,000 | 143 | $6,864,000 |
| 2007 | Freddy Deeb | $2,276,832 | 148 | $7,104,000 |
| 2008 | Scotty Nguyen | $1,989,120 | 148 | $7,104,000 |
| 2009 | David Bach | $1,276,806 | 95 | $4,560,000 |
| 2010 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,559,046 | 116 | $5,568,000 |
| 2011 | Brian Rast | $1,720,328 | 128 | $6,144,000 |
| 2012 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,451,527 | 108 | $5,184,000 |
| 2013 | Matthew Ashton | $1,774,089 | 132 | $6,336,000 |
Day 1 will feature five levels — each lasting 100 minutes — and players will begin with 150,000 in tournament chips. Cards will be in the air at 4 p.m. local time, so join us then as we kick off one of the most prestigious events of the summer!
for an eight-perfect. Glantz mucked his cards and Seiver pulled in the pot.
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