Mortensen Leads WSOP Champions InvitationalTwenty Champions Participate in the Inaugural Event |
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They may only be playing for a car and a trophy, but the inaugural WSOP champions invitational attracted 20 world champions to the Rio yesterday for ultimate bragging rights and a spot in front of ESPN’s cameras.
At the end of the day, 2001 champ Carlos “The Matador” Mortensen held the overall chip lead.
The stacked tournament made for some interesting seat assignments. The docile Jerry Yang sat next to the rambunctious Phil Hellmuth. The legendary Doyle Brunson rubbed elbows with the newest and youngest member of the poker elite, Peter Eastgate.
The participants of this event easily make up “the Mount Rushmore of Poker,” according to WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack.
Ten world champions remain from the 20-person field. They are (with chip totals):
Carlos Mortensen — 42,375
Tom McEvoy — 31,000
Jim Bechtel — 30,475
Doyle Brunson — 20,250
Dan Harrington — 19,975
Peter Eastgate — 18,425
Huck Seed — 15,400
Robert Varkonyi — 13,450
Berry Johnston — 7,625
Phil Hellmuth — 1,125
The tournament will resume at 3 p.m., and play out until there is a winner.
Fans were invited and allowed to crowd around and nearby the tournament tables for a chance to watch some of the most heralded pros in the game. All of the main-event champions were introduced to the onlookers, with popular pros such as Brunson, Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, and Chris Ferguson receiving the lion’s share of the applause.
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