I hear the producers, put every poker player in the world, name in a hat. Picked them out 1 at a time and called them on the phone. The question to them was, "do you have the money to play in the largest, buy-in tournament ever concieved?"
These were the 1st 8 called, that could answer the question, "YES."

Geez Trav, look at the names.
3 WSOP champions.
WPT champions.
Poker HOF inductees.
IMO, one is the greatest tournament player to have ever played the game.
One is almost universally recognized as the best all around player to have ever played the game.
One donates all tournament winnings to charity.
The table sign on a live game these guys play in says $4,000 - $8,000 limit - $250,000 buy-in.
The players range from the youngest (24) to the oldest players to have made "the Poker elite" list.
The new "guard" of poker verses the old "guard."