The Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament is a series of no limit Texas hold 'em poker tournaments. The first season is available on NTSC DVD. It airs on Fox Sports Net in the United States, Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and ftn in the United Kingdom.

Crew

The first series was hosted by Chris Rose, with support from poker author Michael Konik and poker professional Mark Gregorich. Mark Gregorich left the show at the end of the first season.

The first series grand finale aired in February 2005 on the same day as Super Bowl 39. FOX carried the Super Bowl that year, so instead of the series' usual home on FSN, NBC carried the finale instead. It was hosted by Matt Vasgersian, with support from poker professional Erick Lindgren. Backstage interviews were conducted by poker player Evelyn Ng.

The first series was Executive Produced by David Doyle and Directed by Brian Lockwood.

Howard "The Professor" Lederer replaced Michael Konik at the beginning of the 3rd season, with Annie Duke joining for several episodes as a "special guest". Mary Strong conducted the backstage interviews.

Competitors

• Season 1 featured 8 competitors each paying $400,000 to enter. (This $400,000 entry fee is the largest in history)
• Season 2 featured 24 competitors each paying $40,000 to enter, and $250,000 added to the prize pool.
• Season 3 featured 24 competitors each paying $50,000 to enter.

Season 1

The tournament was split into two series, with each player's finishing position in the series final determining their starting chip count in the grand finale.

Similarly, the finishing position in two preliminary rounds per series determined the starting chip positions of each player in both series finals.

The Grand Final winner received $1,000,000. The payouts for the other entrants from the $3,200,000 prize pool were unclear in the broadcast. However, Phil Ivey has said, on Full Tilt, that he walked away with about $400,000, and, therefore, broke even.

In the first two rounds of each series, players start with 100,000 in chips. Their finish in each of these rounds determines their starting chips for the final round of the series as follows:

Finish

1. 250,000
2. 150,000
3. 112,000
4. 88,000
5. 72,000
6. 56,000
7. 40,000
8. 32,000

Series 1 Round 1 finish + Series 1 Round 2 finish = Starting chips for Series 1 Final

Series 2 uses the same format. Finishes in each series final are then used to determine the Grand Finale starting chip count as follows:

Finish - Finals

1. 500,000
2. 300,000
3. 224,000
4. 176,000
5. 144,000
6. 112,000
7. 80,000
8. 64,000

Series 1 Final finish + Series 2 Final finish = Starting chips for grand finale.

Season 2

24 Players

Blind structure

The blinds increased every 20 minutes.