Picking the top tournaments

[stridsmr]

I got to thinking the other day: what live tournaments would the average poker player most want to win? A few picks are obvious, such as the wsop Main Event - but there are plenty of other tournaments each year that big names are on the record as saying they desperately want to win. With that in mind, I'm throwing this challenge out to other forum members: Pick the 10 most prestigious live poker tournaments held around the world (ranked or not) with a brief explanation of why the tourney deserves a slot. My (unranked) list is below, chosen based on a number of factors including buy-in, field size, history, past winners (more big name winners = more prestige) and the amount of media coverage it gets.

(Note that all but one of the tournaments are No Limit Hold 'Em events. This isn't because I'm biased towards the poker variant - it's simply that, because it's the most popular variant right now, it is the choice for most of the big tourneys.)

• The World Series of Poker Main Event – $10,000 USD
  • The Granddaddy of them all. The longest-running tournament in the world, the biggest fields, the biggest prize pool … any poker player worth their salt wants to win this one.
• WSOP H.O.R.S.E. Championship – $50,000 USD
  • It's only been around for three years, but the H.O.R.S.E. Event has earned its reputation as being one of the biggest tests of poker skill. The first three events were won by poker greats Chip Reese, Freddy Deeb and Scotty Nguyen.
• WPT Championship – $25,500 USD
  • The biggest buy-in NLHE event on U.S. Soil (until this year's $40,000 event at the WSOP), fields are almost entirely filled with pros, making for some great final-table battles. Champions include Alan Goehring, Carlos Mortensen and David Chiu with his famous comeback against Gus Hansen.
• Aussie Millions – $10,000 AUS (about $6,400 USD)
  • The big one down under regularly attracts the biggest names from around the world. A unique structure that sees six-handed play once the field gets down to 36 adds even more intrigue. The tournament series also includes the mother of all high-roller events with a $100,000 AUS buy-in.
• EPT Grand Final – 10,300 Euros (about $13,300 USD)
  • The biggest tournament on the European Poker Tour on the beautiful streets of Monte Carlo. Who could ask for anything better?
• Irish Poker Open – 3,500 Euros (about $4,500 USD)
  • This tournament has the lowest buy-in of any on the list, but its history makes up for it. It is the longest running tournament in Europe and second-longest in the world after the WSOP, and despite the lower stakes, big names such as the Brunsons regularly make the journey over.
• PokerStars Caribbean Adventure – $10,000 USD
  • The tournament regularly attracts the biggest fields of any event held outside the United States, with a healthy mix of live and online pros battling for a first prize that reached $3 million this past year.
• L.A. Poker Classic – $10,000 USD
  • This tournament regularly attracts the biggest fields of any stop on the World Poker Tour, and the winners have ranged from the established pro (Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey) to the then-rising star (Antonio Esfandiari) to the complete shocker (Eric Hershler).
• WSOP Europe Main Event – 10,350 pounds sterling (about $20,000 USD)
  • The youngest event of any on this list has nonetheless made quite the impression in its first two years, attracting a field deep with pros. The 2008 final table was one of the most stacked in recent memory, including Daniel Negreanu, Scott Fischman, Ivan Demidov and eventual winner John Juanda.
• Five Diamond Doyle Brunson World Poker Classic - $15,400
  • One of the original stops on the World Poker Tour now stands as the last major tournament of the calendar year. The biggest buy-in event of any regular season WPT tournament always brings out the top stars. The final table in the first season was – in order of finish – Gus Hansen, John Juanda, Freddy Deeb, John Hennigan, Chris Bigler and Scotty Nguyen.

There's my list. Let's see yours!!