Band of Brothers
Sunday, May 31, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
The 33 players who have won the World Series of Poker Main Event make up a very select fraternity. And it is a fraternity, as no woman was won the Main Event–yet. With 2009 marking the 40th Anniversary of the WSOP Harrah’s decided to stage a Champions Invitational event that was open only to former World Champions. And while the tournament will be televised by ESPN and the winner driving off in this ridiculous 1970 Corvette…
…the real thrill came from having all these legendary players together at one time. As Jeffrey Pollack said before he introduced each player to the huge crowd gathered around the dais, the players invited to this tournament have won 70 bracelets among them and over $78 million in WSOP cashes. Some of the players who gathered around the Feature Table have been legends for over half a century, while others have barely started their careers. It was a truly impressive sight when all those champions gathered together to get their picture taken before the start of play:
After the players posed for their group photo WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack invited each champion to join him and Tournament Director Jack Effel on the dais just outside the Final Table arena, where they were surrounded by hundreds of fans pointing cameras and camcorders and cell phones. Even the most cynical and hard-bitten media types thought it was a remarkable event, all those legendary players, all that poker history, brought together and celebrated as champions.
When the 1989 World Champion was announced there was a loud cheer and a big of good-natured jeering as well, and a jaunty Phil Hellmuth bounced up the stairs to shake hands and mug for the crowd.
They’re playing the Invitational right now, and while I’m sure all the players would love to drive off in that gorgeous Stingray, the celebration of these great players supercedes the results of the tournament. It really doesn’t matter who wins the event–today, the game of poker won.
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Tags: champions invitational, world series of poker champions, world series of poker invitational, wsop champions invitational, wsop invitational
