There might have only been 105 runners for the fi rst ever WSOPE event, but we reckon this may well have been the hardest tournament field ever.

Doyle Brunson, Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman, Allen Cunningham, Scotty Nguyen, Gus Hansen and Phil Hellmuth were all present and correct. Although interestingly, this year’s $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. champion, Freddy Deeb, wasn’t.

But just in case you’re not swayed by the starstudded player list, how about this fact: of the 105 runners that took part, 35 were previous WSOP bracelet winners and there were 100 WSOP bracelets shared among the fi eld. Now that’s class.