Wednesday, Apr 6, 2011 Farha v. Moneymaker, Hellmuth v. Chan in WSOP Rematch Series

The World Series of Poker has announced a new "made for TV" event for the 2011 WSOP that will feature rematches from some of the greatest heads-up matches in Main Event history.

The rematch series will feature three legendary match-ups - two already determined and the third to be set by popular vote.

The first event in the series will feature the match-up that changed poker history, with Chris Moneymaker taking on Sammy Farha in a best-of-three tilt.

Round 1 will have both players starting with the same amount of chips they had at the beginning of their 2003 WSOP heads-up match. Moneymaker will start with 5.49 million chips and Farha with 2.9 million.

Round 2 will see those stacks reversed, giving Farha the chip advantage. If a third match is needed, the two players will start with the exact same amount of chips.

Many fans have wondered what would happen if Farha was to get another crack at Moneymaker, and now they will get their wish.

The second match-up will see a rematch from the 1989 WSOP Main Event with Phil Hellmuth taking on Johnny Chan.

The 1989 WSOP was the coming-out party for the Poker Brat. Had Hellmuth not won the match, Chan would have been just the second player in history to win three Main Event tournaments and the only player to take three straight.

This rematch will be one match only, with both players starting with the same amount of chips.

The last event of the series will be determined by fan voting on the WSOP's Facebook page. Fans can choose from the following match-ups:

  • 1988 WSOP Main Event featuring Johnny Chan vs. Erik Seidel
  • 2004 WSOP Main Event featuring Greg Raymer vs. David Williams
  • 2006 WSOP Main Event featuring Jamie Gold vs. Paul Wasicka
  • 2010 WSOP Main Event featuring Jonathan Duhamel vs. John Racener

All three matches will take place on June 2 at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Matches will be filmed in the Amazon Room on the ESPN set and will be televised on ESPN on July 26.

To vote on which match-up you would like to see added to the schedule, visit the WSOP's Facebook page.

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