Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament

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The Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament is a series of no limit Texas hold 'em poker tournaments. The first season is available on NTSC DVD. It airs on Fox Sports Net in the United States and on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada.

[edit] Crew

The first series was hosted by Chris Rose, with support from poker author Michael Konik and poker professional Mark Gregorich. Mark Gregorich left the show at the end of the first season.

The first series grand finale was hosted by Matt Vasgersian, with support from poker professional Erick Lindgren. Backstage interviews were conducted by poker player Evelyn Ng.

Howard "The Professor" Lederer replaced Michael Konik at the beginning of the 3rd season, with Annie Duke joining for several episodes as a "special guest". Mary Strong conducted the backstage interviews.

[edit] Competitors

Season 1 featured 8 competitors each paying $400,000 to enter.
Season 2 featured 24 competitors each paying $40,000 to enter.
Season 3 featured 24 competitors each paying $50,000 to enter.

Competitor	Seasons	WSOP Bracelets	WPT Wins
Doyle Brunson	1, 2	10	1
Todd Brunson	2, 3	1	0
Mike Caro	2	0	0
Johnny Chan	1, 2, 3	10	0
T.J. Cloutier	1	6	0
Kassem "Freddy" Deeb	2, 3	1	1
Eli Elezra	2, 3	0	1
Antonio Esfandiari	2, 3	1	1
Chris Ferguson	3	5	0
Ted Forrest	2, 3	5	1
Chau Giang	2	3	0
Barry Greenstein	1, 2, 3	2	2
David Grey	2	2	0
Joe Hachem	3	1	1
Bobby Hoff	2	0	0
Gus Hansen	1, 3	0	3+1
Jennifer Harman	3	2	0
Phil Hellmuth Jr	3	10	0
Phil Ivey	1, 3	5	0
Howard Lederer	1	2	2
Kathy Liebert	2	1	0
Erick Lindgren	3	0	2
Mike Matusow	3	2+1	0
Chris Moneymaker	2, 3	1	0
Carlos Mortensen	2, 3	2	1
John Myung	2	0	0
Daniel Negreanu	3	3	2
Scotty Nguyen	2	4	1
Greg Raymer	3	1	0
David "Chip" Reese	1	3	0
Huck Seed	2	3	0
Mike Sexton	2, 3	1+1	0
Jeff Shulman	3	0	0
David Sklansky	2	3	0+1
Jennifer Tilly	3	1	0+1
Dewey Tomko	2	3	0
Mimi Tran	2, 3	0	0
Cyndy Violette	2, 3	1	0
Tommy Wang	2	0	0

[edit] Structure

[edit] Season 1

The tournament was split into two series, with each player's finishing position in the series final determining their starting chip count in the grand finale.

Similarly, the finishing position in two preliminary rounds per series determined the starting chip positions of each player in both series finals.

The Grand Final winner received $1,000,000. The payouts for the other entrants from the $3,200,000 prize pool were unclear in the broadcast. However, Phil Ivey has said, on Full Tilt, that he walked away with about $400,000, and, therefore, broke even.

In the first two rounds of each series, players start with 100,000 in chips. Their finish in each of these rounds deterimines their starting chips for the final round of the series as follows:

Finish

250,000
150,000
112,000
88,000
72,000
56,000
40,000
32,000

Series 1 Round 1 finish + Series 1 Round 2 finish = Starting chips for Series 1 Final

Series 2 uses the same format. Finishes in each series final are then used to determine the Grand Finale starting chip count as follows:

Finish - Finals

500,000
300,000
224,000
176,000
144,000
112,000
80,000
64,000

Series 1 Final finish + Series 2 Final finish = Starting chips for grand finale.

[edit] Season 2

POKER CHAMPION TOURNAMENT

16 Players

[edit] Blind Structure

The blinds increased every 20 minutes.

[edit] Qualifying Rounds

Six players competed in each tournament, with points being allocated as follows:

Winner: 10 points
Runner-Up: 7 points
3rd place: 5 points
4th place: 3 points
5th place: 1 point
6th place: 0 points

Each player played six preliminary tournaments with players randomly drawn. At the end of this, the points were tallied and the 16 players with the most points progressed to the next round.

[edit] Final 16

The top 16 are then split into 4 pools of players

Players in the final 16 started with 20,000 chips for every point earned up to then.

Each pool had two matches, with points being allocated as follows:

Winner: 10 points
Runner-Up: 7 points
3rd place: 4 points
4th place: 0 points

The points were cumulated from those 2 matches, and the players with the highest points then progressed to the quarter-finals.

[edit] Quarter-Finals

The quarter-finals are 2 groups with 4 players in each. Each group will play 2 matches with the winner of the first match going to the semi- Finals. Then the 2nd game is played with the remaining 3 players in each, the winner in the one also advances. The Players in the quarter-finals started with 20,000 chips for every point in the Playoffs and 25,000 for the original points.

[edit] Semi-Finals and Finals

Both the semi-finals and finals were played in best two out of three heads-up matches.

[edit] Time Limit Rule

Players had 60 seconds to act on their hands. A player failing to act was penalized the worth of one small blind. An additional small blind penalty would be imposed for each additional ten seconds without action. The collected penalties were added to the next pot. Kathy Liebert was the only player penalized in season two, for one small blind. In season three, it was Phil Ivey.

[edit] Payouts

The payouts were as follows:

Winner=$400,000 USD

Runner Up=$140,000 USD

[edit] Season 3

Season 3 played exactly like Season 2, except for the following differences:

The entry fee was $50,000 instead of $40,000.
Each player played five preliminary tournaments instead of six with players randomly drawn.
The finals were played in best 3-out-of-5 rather than 2-out-of-3.
The Top 16 Players were split into 4 groups and played 2 games with 20,000 chips for every point earned up to then. The winner of each game, with the winner of game one not participating in two, advance to the semi finals, starting there with 600,000 resp. 400,000 chips. Same format is used in the quarter finals, with the two advancing to the semi-finals starting with 1,500,000 resp. 1,000,000 chips.
The time limit rule was modified. After 60 seconds, a player had five seconds to act before being assessed a one small blind penalty. An additional small blind penalty would be assessed for each additional 30 seconds without action. Phil Ivey was assessed a penalty in his first Super Sixteen match.

[edit] Results

[edit] Trivia

[edit] General

The show has been greatly criticised for the lack of European players invited to attend.
The show has also been criticized for its unusual structure, particularly in season 2 where the format went from 24 round robin matches to 2 match total points round of 16 matches to single elimination quarterfinals to best 2 out of 3 semis and finals.
The show has also been criticized for the rounds being short making the blinds rise quickly.

[edit] Season 1

Chip Reese suffered an incredible number of bad beats throughout the tournament that amazed both the players and the commentators.
In the Grand Finale, Johnny Chan came back from $20,000 chips out of $3,200,000 in play to take second place.
Gus Hansen eliminated all seven of his opponents at the final table.
The $400,000 entry fee is the highest in poker history.

[edit] Season 2

According to an article by Daniel Negreanu, both he and John Juanda were invited to play in season 2, but backed out as "things got really nutty with the negotiations." Negreanu would later get involved in season 3.
Johnny Chan eventually beat Todd Brunson in a series of 3 heads up matches where Chan was trailing after losing the first match. Chan later won the remaining two matches to become the champion of Poker Superstars II.