These players have taken their seats directly at the start of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Unsurprisingly, it's a stacked field, with two six-time WSOP bracelet winners (Jeff Lisandro and Daniel Negreanu) among them.
Matthew Ashton (winner in 2013) and Mike Gorodinsky (winner in 2015) have also sat down at the start of level 1.
One of the most anticipated events of the 2017 World Series of Poker is upon us as the $50,000 Poker Players Championship begins Sunday at 3 p.m.
Many of the biggest names in the game consider this their main event, as winning in the eight-game format against the best in the world is what many believe to be the toughest challenge the WSOP schedule presents.
With a combined 26 bracelets won by the nine winners of this event, luck is certainly not what comes to the forefront in the PPC. The skill required to defeat the toughest tournament field of the summer by being proficient in each variant is what is consistently echoed by players and past champions.
David "Chip" Reese, the first champion of this event and for whom the Memorial Trophy is named, was long considered by his peers to be the best all-around poker player. After his win in 2006, Reese said, "It's not just one day or two days. It's every day." The past winners of this event have certainly proved in one way or another that they have withstood the test of time.
Defending champion Brian Rast is a two-time winner of this event, having won it the first time in 2011. The other player with multiple PPC titles is Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, who earned top honors in 2010 and 2012. Coupled with his fourth-place finish last summer, Mizrachi is the only player with three PPC final tables under his belt.
Here is a look at the past entries, prize pool, champions, and first-place prizes:
Year
Entries
Prize Pool
Winner
Prize
2006
143
$6,864,000
Chip Reese
$1,716,000
2007
148
$7,104,000
Freddy Deeb
$2,276,832
2008
148
$7,104,000
Scotty Nguyen
$1,989,120
2009
95
$4,560,000
David Bach
$1,276,806
2010
116
$5,568,000
Michael Mizrachi
$1,559,046
2011
128
$6,144,000
Brian Rast
$1,720,328
2012
108
$5,184,000
Michael Mizrachi
$1,451,527
2013
132
$6,336,000
Matthew Ashton
$1,774,089
2014
102
$4,896,000
John Hennigan
$1,517,767
2015
84
$3,696,000
Mike Gorodinsky
$1,270,086
2016
91
$4,176,000
Brian Rast
$1,296,097
The schedule for Day 1 calls for six 100-minute levels to be played, which should have players bagging and tagging at about 2:15 a.m. Registration remains open until the start of Day 2.
Be sure to keep it here for live updates on all of the action, as the quest to crown the 2017 Poker Players Champion begins!
