by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Mar 6, 2012 | Updated on Mar 6, 2012Last year, the World Series of Poker debuted a new event: the WSOP National Championship. The $1 million freeroll tournament was designed to be the highlight of the WSOP Circuit season by inviting 100 of the top performers from the lower-profile circuit tournaments for a closed bracelet event. This meant there was plenty of excitement among players – especially the eventual winner, Sam Barnhart, who would go on to great success in the WSOP Main Event as well – but a relatively lackluster field, as few notable players participated in many of the circuit events.In an effort to change this, the World Series of Poker announced today that the 2012 edition of the WSOP National Championship will not only invite players from circuit events, but also allow the participation of some of the game’s top players. Based on a ranking system that takes into account the last two years of the WSOP and WSOP Europe, the top 100 ranked players in the world were invited to participate alongside the 100 players who will be participating thanks to their results in WSOP Circuit events.Unlike the circuit qualifiers, those on the WSOP ranking list will have to pay $10,000 to play in the event. However, Caesars is still “seeding” the tournament with the $1 million for the 100 circuit qualifiers (all of whom will be playing for free), and all money collected from those who choose to buy-in will be added to this amount to grow a larger prize pool.The list of invited players includes many of the biggest names in poker, as many big names have had notable successes in the WSOP over the last two years. Some of the highest ranking players on the list include Michael Mizrachi, Ben Lamb, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Moorman and Jason Somerville, who has already tweeted saying that he’ll be participating. Others on the list include Eugene Katchalov, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospelier, Pius Heinz, Jake Cody and Tom Dwan.The 2012 WSOP National Championship will take place on July 6 and 7 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The tournament will be taped for television broadcast on ESPN.
