The final tournament series before the 2006 Tournament of Champions is now running at Harrah's Lake Tahoe. The $10,000 Championship Event begins this Friday, June 16th, but preliminary events have been running since June 6th.

The TOC will be held at the Rio in Las Vegas on June 25/26, during the first week of the World Series of Poker. Here is a look back at the winners of each Championship Circuit Event of the 2005/2006 season:

Grand Casino Tunica, August 11-25, 2005
The first event of the 2005/06 season was held at the Grand Casino Tunica. Gregg Merkow of Plano, Texas took down the Championship Event, earning $561,175 for his efforts. Merkow has since placed first in two events this year, the $3000 No Limit Hold'em event at the 2006 Gold Strike World Poker Open, and the $500 NLHE event at the Jack Binion World Series of Poker Tournament Circuit, also held in Tunica.

Harrah's Las Vegas, September 6-16, 2005
Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson is certainly a man that needs no introduction. Jesus won the Main Event at Harrah's, taking home $362,088. His lifetime tournament earnings are in excess of $5.3 million dollars.

Grand Casino Biloxi, September 29-October 12, 2005
This event was cancelled due to the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region.

Caesars Indiana, October 19-November 2, 2005
Vinnie Vinh collected $437,760 after beating 126 other players, including Men 'The Master' Nguyen who finished in second place. Vinh is no stranger to the game of poker, he has placed in the money in more than 40 tournaments over the past four years.

Paris/Bally's Las Vegas, November 9-22, 2005
Thang 'Kido' Pham of Texas won $442,426 for winning the Championship Event at the Paris/Bally's Circuit. His lifetime earnings are in excess of $1.1 million.

Showboat Atlantic City, November 28-December 9, 2005
Chris Reslock of Atlantic City beat John Juanda for the title, ring, and $335,235. Reslock also has quite an impressive record, having earned just over $750,000 in lifetime poker tournament winnings.

Jack Binion WSOP Tournament Circuit - Grand Casino, January 5-26, 2006
The Circuit returned to the Grand Casino where Daniel Negreanu took down the Championship Event, earning himself a cool $755,525. Known as one of the top poker players in the world, Negreanu has earned more than $7 million dollars in tournaments alone in his lifetime.

Harrah's Atlantic City, February 7-17, 2006
Abraham Korotki beat 123 other players to win the Championship Event in Atlantic City, collecting $433,008 for his efforts.

Harrah's Rincon San Diego, February 26-March 8, 2006
Darrell Dicken of Iowa won $372,780 after beating an impressive final table that included Kathy Liebert, who finished in 3rd, and Andy Bloch who placed in 7th.

Caesars Atlantic City, March 21-31, 2006
The action continued in Atlantic City, where Jeffrey King outlasted 98 others to take home the first place prize of $345,708.

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, April 27-May 12, 2006
John Spadavecchia of Florida collected a whopping $648,320 for finishing in first place in a field of 209 players. Spadavecchia has earned over $1.5 million in his tournament career.

Harrah's New Orleans, May 18-28, 2006
Last month, Peter Feldman collected $532,950 after beating Gavin Smith who finished in second place.

Harrah's Lake Tahoe, June 6-19, 2006
The Championship Event will begin this Friday, June 16. Check back in later this week for updates on the preliminary events, as well as the championship.

As I mentioned, the 2006 Tournament of Champions will be held on June 28/29. Annie Duke won the first annual event in 2004, collecting $2 million after beating eight others who were selected for the single table, invitation-only, winner-takes-all match. In 2005, the structure changed drastically. 114 players competed, and Mike 'The Mouth' Matusow emerged victorious, collecting $1,000,000 and the title. Top nine and their prize money in 2005 were as follows:

1  Mike Matusow  $1,000,000
2  Hoyt Corkins  $325,000
3  Phil Hellmuth Jr.  $250,000
4  Tony Bloom  $150,000
5  Steven Dannenmann  $100,000
6  Grant Lang  $75,000
7  David Levi  $50,000
8  Keith Sexton  $25,000
9  Brandon Adams  $25,000