Uk-Poker.co.uk

As far as side events go, few come as big as the $1 million Tournament of Champions (TOC), which is this year making a return to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) calendar. The TOC 2010 comprises 27 top name poker pros from all over the world, as voted for by the people. Once votes have been cast, the WSOP will invite the top 20 nominees to play alongside former TOC champions Mike Sexton, Annie Duke and Mike Matusow, current WSOP champion Joe Cada and reigning WSOPE champion Barry Shulman. Played in front of ESPN cameras, the TOC freeroll features a prize pool of $1,000,000 and also supports the inclusion of two wild card entrants.

The only criterion for nominating players to the TOC is that they are former bracelet winners, so UK players such as JP Kelly, Roland De Wolfe, Praz Bansi and John Kabbaj could all qualify. The TOC’s wild card entrants, however, need not be bracelet winners and a 9-player single table satellite tournament kicks off today with the winner earning a seat at the main event. EPT San Remo Champion, Liv Boeree, is flying the flag for the UK as she competes in the satellite alongside top names such as Tom Dwan, Gus Hansen and Bertrand Grospellier.

UK online poker players will be familiar with the satellite format of the single table tournament from which Boeree aims to emerge victorious, as thousands of similar events are hosted online every day that offer seats in top international and UK poker tournaments. As Boeree puts her satellite skills to the test once again, a selection of British players including James Dempsey, Paul Folytyn, James Akenhead, Sam Trickett and Stuart Rutter have made their way to day two of event 17 at the WSOP, which has a buy-in of $5,000 and a top prize in excess of $800,000.