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The last eight winners of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event are entered in this year's WSOP Main Event, Gambling911.com can reveal in a world exclusive report!
The WSOP Main Event gets underway on Saturday, July 7, 2012, at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and no entrants will be officially announced until the tournament begins.
However, in an exclusive interview with WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky on Friday, Gambling911.com was told the names of some of the bigger celebrities--both within and without the poker world--who have registered to participate in the 2012 WSOP Main Event.
"The last eight Main Event winners are all signed up," Palansky told Gambling911.com. "They'll all be there. I just spoke to Pius Heinz of Germany, who won last year's Main Event, and he's very excited about defending his title."
The last eight Main Event champs means every winner since 2004, when a portly, dinosaur fossil-collecting, patent attorney from Connecticut named Greg "Fossilman" Raymer won the title.
The winner in 2005 was Lebanese-Australian Joe Hachem, in 2006 it was the Los Angeles TV producer without any TV credits, Jamie Gold, and in 2007 it was a California shrink, Jerry Yang.
Peter Eastgate of Denmark won the Main Event in 2008, Joe Cada of Detroit won it in 2009, Jonathan Duhamel of Montreal, Quebec, Canada won it in 2010, and, of course, Heinz last year became the first German winner of the WSOP Main Event.
Palansky also revealed to Gambling911.com the names of several non-poker celebrities who have ponied up the $10,000 buy-in fee for the Main Event, a no-limit Texas hold 'em tournament that is officially known as 2012 WSOP Event #61.
"Kevin Pollock, the Hollywood actor who starred in the blackjack-counting movie '21' has entered," Palansky said. "So has Georges St. Pierre, who is a top fighter in the UFC. Also signed up is Roberto Luongo, who is the goalie for the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, and Shane Warne, a well-known professional cricket player from Australia.
"In addition," Palansky continued, "comedian Gabe Kaplan will once again be playing in the world's most prestigious poker tournament, the WSOP Main Event. He's been playing in it for years, long before poker achieved the popularity it has now.
"Also, Jennifer Tilly has entered. She's sort of a cross-celebrity, famous in two worlds--she's famous in the poker world as a top lady pro who's won a WSOP championship gold bracelet and outside the poker world as an Academy Award-nominated actress."
Palansky couldn't confirm any other big names slated for this year's Main Event--many want to fly under the radar and thus wait until the last moment to register--but if past participation is any indicator, some names are predictable.
Poker icons such as Phil "Poker Brat" Hellmuth Jr., Johnny "The Orient Express" Chan, Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson, Scotty "The Prince of Poker" Nguyen, John Juanda, Carlos "El Matador" Mortensen, Huck Seed, Barry Shulman, Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari and Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu enter the WSOP Main Event every year, so it would be more than surprising if any of said icons don't show up this year.
And, perhaps most notably, Phil "Poison" Ivey is back at this year's WSOP after a self-imposed one-year absence, so expect him to be in the field for the Main Event.
He begged off last year's WSOP after the online poker room he shilled was busted by the Feds, leading him to fear for his life from angry bettors who lost funds in the fiasco.
By Tom Somach
Gambling911.com Staff Writer
