Field set for WSOP Tournament of Champions event

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The 27-player field for the 2010 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions is set.

More than 355,000 votes were cast between March 15 and Tuesday to determine 20 players who will take part in the free-roll tournament and a chance to win a share of the $1 million prize pool.

Seven-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Ivey garnered the most overall votes of any of the eligible players, out-distancing runner-up Daniel Negreanu by just 28 votes.

To be eligible for voting, players had to have won at least one World Series of Poker individual event champion's bracelet prior to the 2010 tournament.

Phil Hellmuth Jr., who holds a record 11 bracelets, was voted into the event along with 10-time bracelet winners Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan.

Five automatic entries into the tournament were given to Annie Duke, Mike Matusow and Mike Sexton (the previous Tournament of Champions winners), Joe Cada (the 2009 World Series of Poker champion) and Barry Shulman (the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe champion).

Frenchman Bertrand Grospellier won a seat into the tournament through a qualifying table sponsored by the World Series of Poker Academy. Andrew Barton of Great Britain qualified for the event through the World Series of Poker's United Kingdom gambling site that is not available to Americans.

The Tournament of Champions is being dubbed the World Series of Poker's All-Star event. The invitational will start June 27, and the final nine will play July 4.

First place will win $500,000, the runner-up gets $250,000, third place earns $100,000, and the fourth through ninth place pockets $25,000 each.

The total 27-player field: (voted in) Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth Jr., Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Johnny Chan, Scotty Nguyen, Barry Greenstein, John Juanda, Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman, Huck Seed, Dan Harrington, T.J. Cloutier, Sam Farha, Howard Lederer, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Antonio Esfandiari; (automatic) Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, Joe Cada, Barry Shulman; (sponsor exemptions) Bertrand Grospellier and Andrew Barton.