Tom Schneider, one of the poker players competing for votes for the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, is promising voters some of the money he wins if he gets into the Tournament of Champions. The World Series of Poker All-Star Game is by invitation only, which means that if a poker player is not voted into the tournament he or she cannot play in it. Schneider holds two gold bracelets from the World Series of Poker and is a former World Series of Poker Player of the Year, from the year 2007. Schneider is running such a strong campaign to garner votes because he is not even in the top 50 players getting votes, despite all of his previous success.

Schneider has said that he will give some of the money he wins, if voted into the Tournament of Champions, to those who put his name on ballots. The following was emailed by Schneider to some of his supporters:

“You vote for me, and only me, and you will be part of the pool that will split half of what I win. I really would like to play in this tournament and your vote is very important to me. That’s why I’m paying for it.”

The exclusive, invitation-only Tournament of Champions only has a final table that pays out any money to winners. Players who finish in fourth through ninth places go home with $25,000. The third place finisher will go home with $100,000. The second place finisher will go home with $250,000. The winner of the Tournament of Champions will go home with a cool $500,000.

The only people eligible for the voting are those poker players who have won bracelets at previous World Series of Poker tournaments, which is a total of 521 players. Schneider is known in the poker world as the “Donkey Bomber.” At the 2007 World Series of Poker, Schneider took home $416,829 and the Player of the Year title for his play in the tournament. Schneider finished in 52nd place at the 2009 World Series of Poker, which sent him home with a $138,568 pot of money. Schneider has won over $1.6 million in poker tournaments during his playing career.

The voting from fans for the 2010 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions will end on June 15 and it remains to be seen whether or not Schneider will be in the top 20.

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