Here’s how the tournament works:
The top 100 players from the 2011-2012 WSOP Circuit events around the US - including 17 events winners, 17 casino champs and 66 top point earners - have all earned free seats in the 2012 WSOP National Championship.
A $1 million guaranteed prize pool, covered by Harrah’s, makes up for the free buy-ins.
The top 100 players based on their results from the past two years of WSOP events (2010/2011 WSOP and WSOPE) can also buy-in to the tournament for $10k.
All money coming from additional buy-ins gets added directly to the prize pool for an up to $2 million prize pool for the 200-player capped event.
Equity is high for the freerollers with an expected top prize rivaling that of other WSOP bracelet events. A WSOP gold bracelet will also be on the line.
“This marks the first time we will take the best of the best from all our events," said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart, "to compete against one another to determine a true WSOP National Champion."
Top 100 Stacked with Superstars
While the freerolling entrants have a chance for a massive score, they’ll have to take down some of the world’s best players as the top 100 list is packed with them.
Among the top 100 named to the list:
Michael Mizrachi Ben Lamb Shawn Buchanan Phil Hellmuth John Juanda Chris Moorman Jonathan Duhamel Brian Rast Jason Somerville Jason Mercier Eugene Katchalov Bertrand Grospellier Pius Heinz Sam Trickett and moreCheck out the full list of eligible players here.
The tournament is scheduled for July 6-7 at the Rio in Las Vegas with the final table taped on July 11 for a later ESPN broadcast.
For the complete list of the 100 qualifiers from the 2011 WSOP Circuit, check the list out here.
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