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Six events are currently underway here at the Rio with three events playing down to a bracelet tonight. Normally, this is where I update you with some of the cuter stories of the day at the Rio. However, the voting for the 2010 WSOP Tournaments of Champions has come out and I decided I would give my thoughts on the players that made it. Here are the top vote getters as sent out earlier in the day by Seth Palansky, communications director for the WSOP.

My thoughts one the players are as follows:

Ivey (and his coat) was the #1 vote-getter

1. Phil Ivey – I voted for Phil and the fact that he got first is not shocking to me. He is still “The Man” in poker and will be so for a long time.
2. Daniel Negreanu – Clearly this is where the “American Idol” factor kicked in. Daniel has four bracelets and is a solid champion, but there are many others I would have voted for before him. I didn’t vote for Daniel.
3. Doyle Brunson – Of course I voted for Doyle. Who wouldn’t?
4. Phil Hellmuth – Again, I voted for Phil. The all-time bracelets leader should get an automatic pass in my opinion.
5. Chris Ferguson – I voted for him based on 5 bracelets, and 3rd all-time in cashes at the WSOP.
6. Allen Cunningham – I voted for Allen based on five bracelets and a Main Event final table run.
7. Johnny Chan – I am surprised he was 7th in voting but then again, he isn’t as public as Phil or Doyle. 10 bracelets should get an automatic pass though. I voted for him
8. Scotty Nguyen – Only player to have both a Main Event and $50,000 HORSE bracelet. I voted for him baby.
9. Barry Greenstein – I did not vote for Barry. He is a great player and a stand up guy, but there were others that I put above him.
10. John Juanda – I did not vote for John. He is an amazing player and has done well so far this year. I likely would vote him in for next year’s event.
11. Erik Seidel – Of course I voted for Erik. Eight bracelets gets my vote.
12. Jennifer Harman – Don’t shoot me, but I did not vote for Jennifer. I should point out that if we got to choose all 27 instead of 20, I would have voted her in. The same goes for Daniel.
13. Huck Seed – I get why people voted for Huck, but I did not.
14. Dan Harrington – I voted for Dan primarily for his back to back final table runs in the Main Event in 2003 and 2004. However, he does have two bracelets, including the 1995 Main Event bracelet.
15. T.J. Cloutier – I was honestly worried T.J. wouldn’t make it based on many people’s “what have you done for me lately” attitude. I voted for T.J.
16. Sam Farha – Seriously people? You really voted for Farha over Moneymaker? Moneymaker’s win is the reason we even have this tournament and many of the things we take for granted in poker. I voted for Moneymaker and not Farha.
17. Howard Lederer – Again, what are you people thinking? Is this really just a popularity contest only? Does history not matter? I like Howard and credit him for teaching me a good deal about Limit Holdem. At the same time, there were others more deserving. Again, this is another American Idol pick in my opinion. Clearly, I did not vote for Howard.
18. Greg Raymer – I did vote for Greg. Greg proved to be more than a flash in a pan Main Event champion. He has steadily competed at the WSOP and has been a great ambassador for the game.
19. Joe Hachem – Sorry, I didn’t vote for Joe. I understand that he is popular and has done more than just win the Main Event, but I don’t think he has done enough to deserve my vote this year.
20. Antonio Esfandi-What the fuck?? Really?? 1 bracelet and one other decent run in a Main Event, and that makes him a top 20 vote getter? I actually had to go back and look up when he won a bracelet. Wow. I don’t get this pick outside of popularity. Did not vote or even remotely consider voting for him.

Billy Baxter, Layne Flack, Jay Heimowitz, Men Nguyen and Barbara Enright are five of the truly deserving names that people just overlooked entirely. In some cases this was clearly an “American Idol” of poker and not a true Tournament of Champions.
Then again, I am always one that sides with history over popularity. Of course, the votes have been cast and the players announced. The Tournament of Champions kicks off on June 27 and will play to the final table. Depending on access, we will try and bring you WSOP 2010 coverage of this event just as we have from the rest of the 2010 World Series of Poker.