Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament is a series of no limit Texas hold 'em poker tournaments to determine who is the greatest superstar of poker. The first season is available on NTSC DVD. In the United States, it airs on Fox Sports Net. This article describes the common terms, rules, and procedures in the game, but does not cover the strategic impact of betting. ... Texas hold em (also hold em, holdem) is the most popular of the community card poker games as of 2006. ... A poker tournament is a tournament at which the winners are decided by playing poker, usually a particular style of poker. ... NTSC is the analog television system in use in Korea, Japan, United States, Canada and certain other places, mostly in the Americas (see map). ... It has been suggested that Dual layer recording be merged into this article or section. ... Fox Sports Net headquarters in Los Angeles. ...

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 final was hosted by Matt Vasgersian, with support from poker professional Erick Lindgren. Backstage interviews were conducted by poker player Evelyn Ng. Matt Vasgersian (born 1967) is an American sportscaster and television host, known for his versatility and humor. ... Erick Lindgren is a poker professional who won his first ever major tournament at the Bellagio in 2002 and followed that up with his first World Poker Tour (WPT) win just ten months later. ... Evelyn Evybabee Ng (born in 1975 in Toronto, Canada) is a professional poker player. ...

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.

Known competitors in season three are included below. (An internet article announced a third season of the show with 24 competitors. In addition to the article, Greg Raymer's website indicated he will also be appearing. Also, a post on the 2+2 forums indicates that Mike Matusow is involved. Daniel Negreanu later released an article confirming some more names.)

This list is not complete, please assist in completing it.

Competitor	Seasons	WSOP Bracelets	WPT Wins
Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson	1, 2	10	1
Todd "Darkhorse" Brunson	2, 3	1	0
Mike "The Mad Genius" Caro	2, 3	0	0
Johnny "Oriental Express" Chan	1, 2, 3	10	0
T.J. Cloutier	1	6	0
Kassem "Freddy" Deeb	2	1	1
Eli Elezra	2	0	1
Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari	2, 3	1	1
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	3	5	0
Ted Forrest	2, 3	5	0
Chau Giang	2	3	0
Barry Greenstein	1, 2, 3	2	1
David Grey	2	2	0
Joseph Hachem	3	1	0
Bobby "The Wizard" Hoff	2	0	0
Gus "The Great Dane" Hansen	1, 3	0	3+1
Jennifer Harman	3	2	0
Phil Hellmuth Jr	3	9	0
Phil Ivey	1, 3	5	0
Howard "The Professor" Lederer	1	2	2
Kathy Liebert	2	1	0
Erick Lindgren	3	0	2
Mike "The Mouth" Matusow	3	2+1	0
Chris Moneymaker	2, 3	1	0
Juan Carlos "El Matador" Mortensen	2	2	1
John Myung	2	0	0
Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu	3	3	2
Scotty Nguyen	2	4	1
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer	3	1	0
Chip Reese	1	2	0
Huck Seed	2	3	0
Mike Sexton	2, 3	1	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

The WSOP logo. ... The World Poker Tour (WPT) is a series of poker tournaments featuring most of the worlds professional players. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Doyle Brunson at the 1976 World Series of Poker Doyle Texas Dolly Brunson (born August 10, 1933 in Longworth, Texas) is an American poker player who has played professionally for over 40 years. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Todd Alijondro Darkhorse Brunson is the son of poker legend Doyle Brunson. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Mike Mad Genius Caro is a professional poker player and author of poker books. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Peoples_Republic_of_China. ... Chan in the 1998 movie Rounders. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... T.J. Cloutier (born October 13, 1939 in Albany, California) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Lebanon. ... Kassem Freddy Deeb is a professional poker player who emigrated from Lebanon during his college years. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Israel. ... Eli Elezra is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Iran. ... Antonio The Magician Esfandiari (born Amir Esfandiari, December 8, 1978 in Tehran, Iran) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Chris Jesus Ferguson Chris Jesus Ferguson (born April 11, 1963, in Los Angeles, CA) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Ted Forrest (born 1964 in Syracuse, New York) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_South_Vietnam. ... Chau Giang (born 1955? in Vietnam) is an American professional poker player of Chinese descent. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Barry Greenstein (born December 30, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... David Grey is an American professional poker player from Henderson, Nevada. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Australia. ... Joseph Hachem Joseph (Joe) Hachem (pronounced Ha-shem) (born 3 November 1966 in Lebanon) is an Australian poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Bobby Hoff is an American professional poker player from Houston, Texas. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Denmark. ... Gustav (Gus) The Great Dane Hansen (born February 13, 1974 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a professional poker player who lives in Monte Carlo and Las Vegas. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Jennifer Harman is an American professional poker player with a reputation as a cash game player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Phillip J. Hellmuth, Jr. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Phil Ivey (born 1976) is an American professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Howard Lederer, The Professor (born in Concord, New Hampshire), is a professional poker player and brother of poker pro Annie Duke. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Kathy Liebert (born October 1, 1967 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Erick Lindgren is a poker professional who won his first ever major tournament at the Bellagio in 2002 and followed that up with his first World Poker Tour (WPT) win just ten months later. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Mike Matusow sitting at a poker table. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Chris Moneymaker Christopher Bryan Moneymaker (born 1976 in Tennessee) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Juan Carlos The Matador Mortensen (born April 13, 1972 in Ambato, Ecuador) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... John Myung is an American accountant and poker player of Korean descent, originally from Rockville, Maryland. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Canada. ... Daniel Negreanu at the WPT. Daniel Kid Poker Negreanu (born July 26, 1974 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_South_Vietnam. ... Image:Scotty1. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Greg Raymer Greg Fossilman Raymer (born 1964 in Minot, North Dakota) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... David Edward Chip Reese (born 1951?) a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Huck Seed (born 1969?) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Mike Sexton (born September 22, 1947) is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... David Sklansky at the 1979 World Series of Poker David Sklansky (born in Teaneck, New Jersey) is a professional poker player and author. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Publicity shot of Jennifer Tilly in Bound Jennifer Tilly (born September 16, 1958 in Harbor City, California) is an American actress who has starred in many major films as well as independent features. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Dewey Tomko, a former kindergarten teacher, is an American professional poker player with over 35 years of experience. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_South_Vietnam. ... Thithi “Mimi” Tran (born July 5, 1960 in Nha Trang, Vietnam) is an American professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Cyndy Violette is a professional poker player. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Tommy Wang is an American professional poker player from Rosemead, California. ...

Structure

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 final.

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 as such broke even.

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

Finish

1. 250,000
2. 150,000
3. 112,000
4. 88,000
5. 72,000
6. 56,000
7. 40,000
8. 32,000

Series 1 - Round 1 finish + 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 Final starting chip count as follows:

Finish - Finals

1. 500,000
2. 300,000
3. 224,000
4. 176,000
5. 144,000
6. 112,000
7. 80,000
8. 64,000

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

Season 2

Blind Structure

The blinds increased every 12 minutes.

Qualifying Rounds

The structure was changed to a points-based system.

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. At the end of this, the points were tallied and the 16 players with the most points progressed to the next round.

Final 16

The top 16 were then split into 4 pools of players (see above.)

Players in the final 16 started with 25,000 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.

Quarter-Finals

The quarter-finals saw 2 heats with 4 players in each, again with the top 2 progressing, this time to the semi-finals. Unlike the other rounds, this was a one round knockout situation, not 2 or more matches.

Players in the quarter-finals started with 50,000 chips for every point earned up to then.

Semi-Finals

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

Time Limit Rule

A time limit was suggested by Barry Greenstein and added to the show. Players had to act on their hand within 30 seconds. If the decision was not made during that period of time, the player at fault was charged one small blind then, and for every 10 seconds thereafter. The collected penalties were added to the next pot. The time limit was criticised by several players, particularly Kathy Liebert, as when facing a raise the clock is already on before players know how much it will cost to call the previous player's raise.

Payouts

The payouts were as follows:

• Elimination Match Winners: $10,000
• Playoff Match Winners: $15,000
• Quarterfinal 2nd, 3rd, 4th: $15,000
• Quarterfinal Winners: $30,000
• Semi-Final Runner-Ups: $30,000
• Semi-Final Winners: $50,000
• Final Runner-Up: $140,000
• Champion: $400,000

In total, the prize pool was $1,210,000. As the entry was $40,000 per player, this means that an extra $250,000 was added to the prize pool.

Results

Season 1

See main article at Poker Superstars season 1 results. Below are the results of season 1 of Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament. ...

Season 2

See main article at Poker Superstars season 2 results. Regular Season Results Single-Table Invitational On February 5, 2006, NBC aired an 8-player single-table invitational freeroll, winner take all tournament for $500,000. ...

Trivia

General

• The show has been greatly criticised for the lack of European players invited to attend.
• The show has also been criticized for it's 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.

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 Final, Johnny Chan came back from $20,000 chips out of $3,200,000 in play to take second place.
• Gus Hansen eliminated all seven opponents in the Grand Final.
• The $400,000 entry fee is the highest in poker history.

In Poker, a bad beat occurs when a hand, which was at one time a big favourite to win, loses. ...

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.

Daniel Negreanu at the WPT. Daniel Kid Poker Negreanu (born July 26, 1974 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a professional poker player. ... John Juanda. ...

External links

• Finding the Ace Among Kings: A True Story (The Making of the Show)
• Poker Superstars (Article by Mike Sexton)
• Episode Reviews