The tournament is one of the favorites for the games elite professionals and one of the reasons why the tournament is so popular is because the only way to play in the tournament is if you receive an invitation. You may be asking what kind of tournament only allows players to play in it if they receive an invitation and well that tournament is the NBC Heads-Up Championship which allows 64 players to come together and play for their share of a huge prize pool and the entire tournament is structured as a heads-up tournament. The only way to gain an invitation to the tournament depends on how you did the previous year in poker, so for example the WSOP and WPT Player of the Year players will receive an invitation and the tournament winners for some of pokers biggest tournaments will also receive an invitation. Also the four previous winners will also receive an invitation to come and try and put their name on the trophy once again. Another way some players were able to gain an invitation was to play in some of the qualifiers that were being put on at Full Tilt Poker and at Caesars Palace. Also just to note that the famous Ali Nejad will be providing the commentary just like the past few years and he has been a fan favorite.
Once again the NBC Heads-Up Championship will be played at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV and just like prior years the turnout just to view the heads-up matches should be great in itself. Below are the players that have received an invitation to play in this years NBC Heads-Up Championship, however the list is not final because just like the last few years there has been last minute drop outs. The qualifiers however are not listed.
David BenyamineÂ
Andy BlochÂ
Chad BrownÂ
Doyle BrunsonÂ
Johnny ChanÂ
Don CheadleÂ
Glen ChornyÂ
Allen CunninghamÂ
Ivan DemidovÂ
Annie DukeÂ
Tom DwanÂ
Peter EastgateÂ
Eli ElezraÂ
Antonio EsfandiariÂ
Sam FarhaÂ
Chris FergusonÂ
Scott FischmanÂ
Layne FlackÂ
Ted ForrestÂ
Brad GarrettÂ
Jamie GoldÂ
Clonie GowenÂ
Barry GreensteinÂ
Gavin GriffinÂ
Bertrand GrospellierÂ
Joe HachemÂ
Gus HansenÂ
Jennifer HarmanÂ
Phil HellmuthÂ
Orel HershiserÂ
Jeffrey Ishbia Â
Phil IveyÂ
John JuandaÂ
Gabe KaplanÂ
Phil LaakÂ
Howard LedererÂ
Erick LindgrenÂ
Jonathan LittleÂ
Mike MatusowÂ
Dario MinieriÂ
Chris MoneymakerÂ
Daniel NegreanuÂ
Scotty NguyenÂ
David PhamÂ
John PhanÂ
Greg RaymerÂ
Vanessa RoussoÂ
Ilari SahamiesÂ
Huck SeedÂ
Vanessa SelbstÂ
Erik SeidelÂ
Mike SextonÂ
Gavin SmithÂ
Jennifer TillyÂ
JC TranÂ
Kenny TranÂ
Paul WasickaÂ
David WilliamsÂ
Jerry YangÂ
Leon Yanovski