Heads-Up Championship Lineup Grows to 60

This past weekend, NBC released the list of sixty poker players and celebrities who have been invited to compete in the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHUPC).  Four spots still remain and will be filled through special qualifiers, including an online tournament and a live satellite at Caesars in Las Vegas, where the NHUPC is held.  Note that these are only the invitees – there is a chance that some may not confirm their participation. 

Fifteen players will be making their NHUPC debuts, including actors Brad Garrett and Jason Alexander and former Major League Baseball Cy Young Award winner and record holder, Orel Hershiser.  Current World Series of Poker Champion, Jerry Yang, is on the invite list for the first time, as is 2007 WSOP Player of the Year, Tom Schneider. 

Below is the current list of invited players, courtesy of NBC Sports.  First-timers are in bold. 

1. Alexander, Jason

2. Antonius, Patrik

3. Bellande, Jean-Robert

4. Benyamine, David

5. Brown, Chad

6. Brunson, Doyle

7. Brunson, Todd

8. Chan, Johnny

9. Cheadle, Don

10. Clements, Scott

11. Cloutier, T.J.

12. Cunningham, Allen

13. Deeb, Freddy

14. Duke, Annie

15. Dwan, Tom

16. Edler, Bill

17. Elezra, Eli

18. Elizabeth, Shannon

19. Esfandiari, Antonio

20. Farha, Sam

21. Ferguson, Chris

22. Fischman, Scott

23. Forrest, Ted

24. Garrett, Brad

25. Gold, Jamie

26. Gowen, Clonie

27. Greenstein, Barry

28. Grizzle, Sam

29. Hachem, Joe

30. Hansen, Gus

31. Harman, Jennifer

32. Hellmuth, Phil

33. Hershiser, Orel

34. Ivey, Phil

35. Juanda, John

36. Kaplan, Gabe

37. Laak, Phil

38. Lederer, Howard

39. Lindgren, Erick

40. Little, Jonathan

41. Matusow, Mike

42. Mizrachi, Michael

43. Negreanu, Daniel

44. Nguyen, Scotty

45. Pham, David

46. Raymer, Greg

47. Rousso, Vanessa

48. Schneider, Tom

49. Schreiber, Daniel

50. Seed, Huck

51. Seidel, Erik

52. Singer, David

53. Smith, Gavin

54. Tilly, Jennifer

55. Townsend, Brian

56. Tran, J.C.

57. Tran, Kenny

58. Wasicka, Paul

59. Williams, David

60. Yang, Jerry