It's almost time for the announcement of players invited to the made-for-TV NBC Heads-Up National Championship scheduled for early March, running up against the opening day of the NAPT LA Main Event.

The usual criteria should mean the following players will automatically receive an invite (unless freekobe corrects me):

Annie Duke, Huck Seed, Chris Ferguson, Paul Wasicka, Ted Forrest (past five NBC HU winners)
Erik Seidel, Vanessa Rousso (2009 and 2010 NBC HU runner-up finishers)
Dennis Phillips, Scotty Nguyen (2010 NBC HU semifinalists)
Jonathan Duhamel, Joe Cada, Peter Eastgate (last three WSOP ME winners)
John Racener (2010 WSOP ME runner-up)
Frank Kassela (2010 WSOP multiple bracelet winner/WSOP Player of the Year)
Ayaz Mahmood (2010 WSOP $10k HU winner)
James Bord (2010 WSOPE ME winner)
Faraz Jaka (2010 WPT Player of the Year)
Tom Marchese (2010 CardPlayer Player of the Year)
Sorel Mizzi (2010 BLUFF Player of the Year)
Nicolas Chouity (2010 EPT Grand Final winner)
Justin Young (Caesars tournament qualifier)
Possible FTP/Stars qualifiers?

Expect the rest of the field to be filled with the usual suspects, while others are upset about being snubbed.

Thanks Kevmath!

this is probably the tournament I look most forward too besides the WSOP(e)

HUCK GONNA SHIP SHIP SHIP

Would be nice if they'd open this up to 128, maybe just do the first two episodes sort of highlights of the first 64 eliminations. I mean, if the FPL is going to have 200-strong fields, it shouldn't be too hard to fill in 128 seats with TV friendly names and still get in some internet pros (Oliver and Hall from PCA; Katchalov and Trickett from the recent high rollers, and some "no-name" proven online guys) and make for a better overall product.

Clearly this isn't going to be a 2+2er's dream, but you'd think NBC would understand how their product has room to grow (the changes at PAD show that) and they have an opportunity to move things forward.

No automatic invite for Grinder as the Players' Champion? I guess it's not specifically NLHE, but still, you'd think they'd acknowledge him.

I still think having a pure invite tourny is odd. Poker is about the everyman with the money being able to play. Just not here.

seriously, 128 would be great, it would generate a bigger prize pool and we wouldnt hear so much about players being snubbed

i thought eastgate quit poker ?

Do they still call in the NATIONAL HU Championship !? It's a fkn joke if they do since they invite the live donks who were on a heater during the poker boom but not the REAL pros.

oh and... IN B4 THEY MAKE IT A COMETISHIAN

were's Matusow?

Eastgate did quit poker, and probably won't accept the invite. But he is one of the last three WSOP ME champions.

Matusow will surely be one of the 64 in the field.

so why do both sites participate in this?
why isn't there a site war over this like hsp, pad.

sweet... one of my favorite tourneys

Qualifiers went through last night

Basebamdy vs Justin Young in semifinals, any idea who went to the finals and who eventually took it?

Appears Justin Young won the tournament and the seat.

As long as Annie "the whore" Duke doesn't win it...

^^first round HU vs daniel, plz

im ready to be Snubbed i was told they were considering me for the tournament but not getting my hopes to high.

Would LOVE to play this

A press release mentioning some of the players invited came out today. The only name that would seem unusual is that Peter Eastgate WILL take part this year.

**** Yeah Peter!

Official list of players announced on 02/23. PR is here:

http://www.businesswire.com/news/hom...Alexander-Join

1. Alexander, Jason:
2. Antonius, Patrik
3. Baldwin, Eric
4. Benyamine, David
5. Bloch, Andy
6. Boeree, Liv
7. Bord, James
8. Brunson, Doyle
9. Cada, Joe
10. Cates, Daniel
11. Chan, Johnny
12. Cheadle, Don
13. Chouity, Nicolas
14. Cunningham, Allen
15. Duhamel, Jonathan
16. Duke, Annie
17. Dwan, Tom
18. Eastgate, Peter
19. Elezra, Eli
20. Esfandiari, Antonio
21. Ferguson, Chris
22. Forrest, Ted
23. Galfond, Phil
24. Gordon, Phil
25. Greenstein, Barry
26. Grospellier, Bertrand
27. Hachem, Joe
28. Hansen, Gus
29. Harman, Jennifer
30. Hellmuth, Phil
31. Ivey, Phil
32. Jaka, Faraz
33. Juanda, John
34. Kaplan, Gabe
35. Kassela, Frank
36. Katchalov, Eugene
37. Laak, Phil
38. Lederer, Howard
39. Lindgren, Erick
40. Mahmood, Ayaz
41. Marchese, Thomas
42. Matusow, Mike
43. Mercier, Jason
44. Mizrachi, Michael
45. Mizzi, Sorel
46. Moneymaker, Chris
47. Negreanu, Daniel
48. Nguyen, Scotty
49. Obrestad, Annette
50. Phillips, Dennis
51. Pilgrim, Dwyte
52. Racener, John
53. Raymer, Greg
54. Rousso, Vanessa
55. Scott, Kara
56. Seed, Huck
57. Seidel, Erik
58. Selbst, Vanessa
59. Smith, Emmitt
60. Smith, Gavin
61. Tilly, Jennifer
62. Whitmire, Melburn
63. Williams, David
64. Young, Justin

I am absolutely a Durr fanboy, but that said...

Emmitt Smith over Durr one time? Would be hysterical.

it's nice that the best online players are invited: durrr, galfond, jungleman, Ivey, Antonius, Hansen...

I saw this article where they stated that Eastgate is coming out of retirment.

I see you made the correction later in the thread

How about

meeting

one time?