The Poker Players Championship

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Poker Players Championship
SportPoker, 8-game mix
FoundedLas Vegas, Nevada, U.S. (2006)
Owner(s)Caesars Entertainment Corporation (2006–present)
Most recent
champion(s)		United States Daniel Cates
Most titlesUnited States Michael Mizrachi (3)
Official websiteOfficial website

The Poker Players Championship is a $50,000 buy-in event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Added in the 2010, it replaced the former $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship as the highest-stakes mixed-games event.[1] It is considered among the most prestigious events offer at the WSOP.[2]

History[]

In 2006, the inaugural event was called the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship and was the largest buy-in tournament at the World Series of Poker until the introduction of the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop in 2012. Chip Reese defeated Andy Bloch heads-up the in the 2006 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship to win $1,784,640 and the event's first title.[3]

In 2007, professional poker player Freddy Deeb defeated Bruno Fitoussi after 17 hours of final table play to win $2,276,832 and his second bracelet.[4] Chip Reese died in December 2007; efforts were made in 2008 to honor Reese by the WSOP which created the Chip Reese memorial trophy that each champion can hold for one year.[5] Scotty Nguyen won the 2008 tournament and received the trophy. Controversy ensued when Nguyen, intoxicated during the final table of the tournament, began berating other players, notably Michael DeMichele, without receiving any penalty.[6]

In 2010, $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship changed to the Poker Player's Championship and became the first 8-game mix version of the event. In 2015, the Poker Players Championship changed to a 10-game mix format. Unlike the previous five-game rotation of H.O.R.S.E. and the eight-game rotation that followed,[7] the 10-game mix consisted of limit 2–7 triple draw lowball, limit Texas hold'em, limit Omaha/8B, limit razz, limit seven-card stud, limit seven card stud/8B, no-limit Texas hold'em with antes, pot-limit Omaha, badugi, and 2–7 no-limit draw lowball. The final table was played out exclusively in no-limit Texas hold'em in 2010 and 2011 to appeal to television viewers.[1] The event has not televised since and has been played out in a mixed-game format for its entire duration. After declining turnout for the 10-game version in 2015, the tournament has reverted to the previous 8-game format and has remained there since then.

Michael Mizrachi became the first two-time champion after winning the event in 2010 and 2012, earning him $1,559,046 and $1,451,527 respectively.[8] Brian Rast became the second two-time champion after winning the event in 2011 and 2016, earning him $1,720,328 and $1,296,097 respectively.[9][10] At the 2018 WSOP, Mizrachi won the event for a record third time, defeating 2014 champion John Hennigan heads up and winning $1,239,126.

Winners[]

Year Event name Mix Entrants Winner Prize (US$) Runner-up
2006 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. 5-game 143 United States David "Chip" Reese $1,716,000 United States Andy Bloch
2007 $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E. 5-game 148 Lebanon Freddy Deeb $2,276,832 France Bruno Fitoussi
2008 $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E. 5-game 148 Vietnam Scotty Nguyen $1,989,120 United States Michael DeMichele
2009 $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E. 5-game 95 United States David Bach $1,276,802 United States
2010 $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 8-game 116 United States Michael Mizrachi $1,559,046 Russia Vladimir Shchemelev
2011 $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 8-game 128 United States Brian Rast $1,720,328 United States Phil Hellmuth
2012 $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 8-game 108 United States Michael Mizrachi (2) $1,451,527 United States
2013 $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 8-game 132 United Kingdom Matthew Ashton $1,774,089 United States
2014 $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 8-game 102 United States John Hennigan $1,517,767 United States Brandon Shack-Harris
2015 $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 10-game 84 Russia Mike Gorodinsky $1,270,086 United States Jean-Robert Bellande
2016 $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 8-game 91 United States Brian Rast (2) $1,296,097 United States Justin Bonomo
2017 $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 8-game 100 United Kingdom $1,395,767 Germany
2018 $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 8-game 87 United States Michael Mizrachi (3) $1,239,126 United States John Hennigan
2019 $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 8-game 74 United States Phil Hui $1,099,311 United States Josh Arieh
2020 not held
2021 $50,000 The Poker Players Championship 9-game 63 United States Daniel Cates $954,020 United States

References[]

  1. ^ a b "$50,000 The Poker Player's Championship Structure Sheet" (PDF).
  2. ^ Schult, Steve (6 July 2017). "WSOP NEWS: ELIOR SION WINS 50000 POKER PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP". wsop.com. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  3. ^ Pajich, Bob (2007-12-05). "Remembering Chip Reese". cardplayer.com. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  4. ^ Hartness, John (2007-06-29). "WSOP Updates – Event #39, $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. — Freddy Deeb Holds Off Fitoussi For Win". PokerNews. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  5. ^ Arnett, Kristy (2008-09-19). "ESPN to Premiere 2008 WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event Tonight". Card Player. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  6. ^ Pajich, Bob (2008-08-21). "No Call on Scotty Nguyen Magnifies Flaw in WSOP Rules". Card Player. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  7. ^ "WSOP Poker Players Championship structure sheet" (PDF). WSOP.com. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  8. ^ Tim Fiorvanti (2016-07-01). "The Poker Players Championship will always stand out at WSOP". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  9. ^ Feldman, Andrew (2011-07-08). "Brian Rast defeats Hellmuth to win $50K event". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  10. ^ Fast, Erik (2016-07-06). "Brian Rast Wins 2016 World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship". Card Player. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
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