Highlights of Season 3 of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament

After an unprecedented and outstanding first couple of seasons, the poker superstars invitational tournament still made some important changes in its format and structure to make its general appearance better than ever. With a higher entrance fee of $50,000, the participants were expected to play more intensely and seriously. At the same time, the prize pool for the event just got higher, promising hefty payouts for the top finishers in the third season of this prestigious tournament.

On March 12, 2006, the much anticipated third season of this invitational tournament commenced in one serious showdown among the current top players of poker, who are mostly titleholders and proven players from the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour. Out of the 24 eager and well-disciplined participants, only 16 of them moved on to the next round after making past 20 highly competitive and intense elimination rounds.

During the Super 16 round of the third season of the poker superstars Invitational Tournament, the surviving participants were divided into four randomly selected groups. Each of the four groups engaged in two matches each, which would dramatically affect the positioning of the players entering the quarterfinal round. At the same time, the highly talented Super 16 would then be reduced to eight outstanding poker competitors, en route to the quarterfinals.

At the quarterfinals, the eight remaining contenders for the third season title were grouped once again, this time into two randomly selected groups with four participants each. Group A was consisted by Johnny Chan, Antonio Esfandiari, Carlos Mortensen, and Freddy Deeb, while Group B was made up of Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow, Todd Brunson, and Jeff Shulman. From these two highly competitive groups, only two each would survive and have the right to compete at the semifinal round of the season.

During the semifinals of the third Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament, the four remaining poker players were matched up against one another, which were determined by their positioning after the very exciting quarterfinal round. The first semifinal match was between Esfandiari and Hansen, while the second semifinal match was between Brunson and Chan. As the play continued, the winners of each match would then move on to the prestigious final round, where the winner would be declared as the new Poker Superstars champion.

At the final match of the season, Esfandiari and Brunson met in the decisive game between two of the best and finest players in the third season of the invitational tournament. Just like the past seasons, this promises to be one very exciting showdown, with the favor obviously going to the better competitor. After rounds of great plays and strategies, Brunson defeated Esfandiari for the title and the guaranteed $400,000 pot money. On the other hand, Esfandiari took home his fair share of the competition, earning $140,000 from that finals game alone.