It seems NBC causes controversy in the poker world every year with the inevitable announcement of which lucky 64 players are to be invited to one of poker's most prestigious tournaments, the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHPC).

The list may always be controversial, but there's no denying the overall talent level assembled every year at this exciting televised event; and it only takes a quick cursory look to see that this year's list is no exception.

The 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship has once again invited players who made big splashes during the previous year, players like CardPlayer's Player of the Year John Phan, the World Poker Tour Player of the Year Jonathan Little, the World Series of Poker Player of The Year Erick Lindgren and the European Poker Tour Grand Final Monte Carlo champion Glen Chorny.

This will be Chorny's first visit to NBC's big event, making him one of 16 new players to compete. Other new players to the NHPC include WSOP Main Event runner-up Ivan Demidov, Gavin Griffin, Bertrand Grospellier, Dario Minieri, Vanessa Selbst, IIari Sahamies, John Phan, comedian and poker fan Brad Garrett, WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate, two Caesars Palace qualifiers and four online qualifiers.

Returning players include most of the legends you've come to expect, as well as all four past champions of the NHPC: Chris Ferguson, Paul Wasicka, Ted Forrest and Phil Hellmuth.

A short list of some of the other players attending includes Andy Bloch, Chad Brown, Huck Seed, David Benyamine, Clonie Gowen, Orel Hershiser, John Juanda, Chris Moneymaker, Mike Matusow, Scotty Nguyen, David Pham, Jennifer Tilly, Mike Sexton and numerous PokerRoaders like Barry Greenstein, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Gavin Smith.

For a complete alphabetical list of the 64 invited players, visit CardPlayer.com.


Story by Mark Anderson