2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship from Caesars Palace - Day 1
Friday, 29th of February 2008 10:29 PM
The theme of the day seemed to be getting it in with the worst of it. Most of the time, that theme actually paid off as big suckouts were everywhere.
- In the third hand of play in the Clubs bracket, Hellmuth's aces were cracked as Tom "durrr" Dwan found a set of tens on the turn. Hellmuth was gone.
- In a battle of Main Event surprises, Jerry Yang caught a two outer from above on the river to send Chris Moneymaker packing.
- Gavin Smith found himself at risk holding K J to Tom Scheider's A J, only to be bailed out when the board straightened. The following hand, Gavin would run his 7 8 into the 2007 WSOP Player of the Year's Q Q, only to turn a straight. Schneider would bust shortly after.
- David "the Dragon" Pham was looking to advance and managed to get in good, tabling pocket nines. Brian "SBRugby" Townsend sadly turned over 10 9. That frown would dissappear after a 10 10 7 flop that shattered Pham's NHPC dreams.
Each qualifier made quick, first round exits. LA Dodger great Orel Hershiser is the only remaining celeb. Clonie Gowen and Vanessa Rousso will be the only females returning to play tomorrow.
Here's a look at the upcoming matchups in each bracket:
Hearts
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| A disgusted Phil Hellmuth after Tom "durrr" Dwan cracks his aces | |
Rousso vs. Bloch
Fischman vs. Gold
Hershiser vs. Cunningham
Grizzle vs. Deeb
Diamonds
Seed vs. Townsend
Gowen vs. Mizrachi
Greenstein vs. Benyamine
D. Brunson vs. Lindgren
Clubs
Little vs. Kaplan
Raymer vs. Clements
Matusow vs. Dwan
G. Smith vs. Ferguson
Spades
Hansen vs. Nguyen
Yang vs. Laak
Ivey vs. Chan
Cloutier vs. Tran
Play resumes tomorrow at 11 a.m. PST. PokerPages is at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, briging you continued live coverage of the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 09:29 PM
TJ found himself in a race for his tourney life. Thankfully, his 44 held against Daniel's AJ.
On the very next hand Schreiber was in again with AJ, this time ahead of TJ's K 5. TJ was able to find a 5 on the flop. The remaining board was no help to Schreiber, who will have more time for StarCraft after the veteran took him to PokerSchool.
Day 2 Spades bracket matchups:
Hansen vs. Nguyen
Yang vs. Laak
Ivey vs. Chan
Cloutier vs. Tran
Day has concluded for the evening. I will return shortly with a recap.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 09:17 PM
Alisha Kunze moves all in with 7 7 and was inst-called by Ivey and his J 9. The board came A 10 9 Q J and the 2008 LAPC champ has avoided a major upset.
The Cloutier/Schreiber table will be the last action of the day.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 09:03 PM
Alisha Kunze probably thought her pocket kings were going to help her pull an upset on Phil Ivey. That is until Ivey turned over A A. Ivey's aces held and the two are now about even.
Cloutier and Schreiber continue to battle at what seems to be the most mellow table of the day. Just two tables remain.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 08:59 PM
On the feature table, Cheadle moved all in with J J and was called by Hansen, who tabled K J. The window card was a king and Cheadle's NHPC is over.
Short stacked Annie Duke also had to make a stand, but after the cards ran out, Tran had made two pair to advance.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 08:50 PM
JC Tran has crippled Annie Duke.
Annie made it 2,200 to go. JC raised to 8,000. Annie pushed and was called by JC. "We're in a race," Annie informed the crowd. She was right. Unfortunately, JC's 88 held up against Annie's A 10 to leave Duke with just over 3,000 chips.
In a flurry of action, Johnny Chan survived his race to eliminate David Williams. On the neighboring table, the 4 on the turn would not only give David Singer queens and fours, but the Unibomber made his flush to advance to the round of 32.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 08:33 PM
Don Cheadle moved all in before the flop. Gus, maybe taking a cue from Negreanu, showed 3 3 while he contemplated the call. Eventually, Hansen would commit to the pot. The board would run out 7 4 9 4 6 and the Academy Award Nominee has pulled even with the Great Dane at the feature table.
On one of the outer tables, Scotty Nguyen and Bill Edler both showed flushes after the turn. The problem for Edler was that Scotty's was the nuts. Edler's NHPC debut was a short one. Scotty will play the winner of Hansen/Cheadle in round two.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 08:15 PM
The battle of past Main Event champs was settled by a two-outer on the river.
After a series of raises, Yang would call Moneymaker's all in preflop. Yang's 4 4 was in bad shape, up against Moneymaker's 10 10. The board read K K 9 6, before the 4 fell on the river. Yang found trips on the river to send the 2003 Main Event champ home. Moneymaker couldn't make it out of the poker room fast enough.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 08:09 PM
David Williams called off most of his chips after the river to see Johnny Chan's flush. Chan now holds a 3-1 chip lead over Williams.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 07:54 PM
Not suprisingly, a 20 minute break turned into 40 (damn TV production), but cards are in the air.
Spades Bracket
| Daniel Schreiber | vs. | TJ Cloutier | | Scotty Nguyen | vs. | Bill Edler | | Chris Moneymaker | vs. | Jerry Yang | | Phil Ivey | vs. | Alisha Kunze | | David Williams | vs. | Johnny Chan | | David Singer | vs. | Phil Laak | | Annie Duke | vs. | JC Tran | | Don Cheadle | vs. | Gus Hansen* |
* feature table
A couple of names might sound unfamiliar. Schreiber took down the 2007 WSOP Heads-Up Championship at the age of 21. Before the WSOP win launched his poker career, the kid many refer to as "rekrul" made his living as a professional StarCraft player. Schreiber will have to deal with living legend TJ Cloutier in his opening match.
Alisha Kunze qualified for the event after taking down a series of freerolls on PokerStars. The Greensburg, IN, native plans to pursue a career as a registered nurse after the NHPC concludes. Alisha draws newly crowned LAPC winner Phil Ivey in the first round.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 07:14 PM
They have announced a 20 minute break in play before the Spades Bracket takes to the felt.
Here's the Clubs Bracket matchups for tomorrow:
Little vs. Kaplan
Raymer vs. Clements
Matusow vs. Dwan
G. Smith vs. Ferguson
Friday, 29th of February 2008 07:11 PM
Jesus will advance.
Ferguson held K 10 and was up against the short stacked Juanda and his 9 5. The A K 8 flop was good for a sweat and the 6 on the turn gave Juanda some more outs, but it wasn't in the cards for the man from Indonesia and the river blank meant lights out for JJ.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 07:03 PM
With an Aussie flag in hand and a bright yellow Australia shirt on his back, Mike Matusow was able to fend off charges from Joe Hachem to eliminate the 2005 WSOP Main Event winner. We heard three "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!" chants today, all from Matusow.
In the only remaining table, Juanda just outkicked Jesus to stay alive.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 07:01 PM
Oops, I knocked out Tom Schneider.
With a copy of Schneider's book by his side, Gavin smith was able to win the last race for the improbable comeback win.
Just two tables play on in the Clubs Bracket.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 06:53 PM
With the help of lucky charms Orel Hershiser and Joe Hachem, Gavin Smith will live to see another hand.
Gavin pushed his last 10,300 in preflop with KJ and was called by the A J of 2007 WSOP POY Tom Schneider. The flop came 234 and the turn a 6. "How bout a 5 ball!" said Smith. 5 on the river. Play will continue after the chop.
In just the next hand, Gavin's7 8 ran into Schneider's pocket queens. Birdguts would pick up a sweat with a 5 and 6 each coming on the flop. The turn 4 would ice the hand. Gavin has stolen the chip lead from Schneider.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 06:45 PM
Scott Clements will advance.
"BigRiskky" held onto a small chip lead when the money went in the pot. Clements' AK was way ahead of Tran's A7. After the board ran 33523 Tran's day was done.
Meanwhile, Gabe Kaplan took care of Patrik Antonius. Kaplan's Ah5d would need help to catch up to the ducks of Antonius. The board came AdKdQd. "That's not a good flop for Patrick," said Matusow in the understatement of the tournament. Kaplan would make his flush on the river for good measure and leave Antonius at the starting gate.
Jonathan little went from crippled to even after just two double ups. From there, he was able to close the door on eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 06:30 PM
Kenny Tran was at risk with A6 against Scott Clements' 10 10. Tran was able to channel the runner gods and catch a couple late clubs for the double up.
Gabe Kaplan got his money in good against Antonius for the double up. Kaplan's A J was a little shakey after Patrik's J 10 found 8 9 3 on the flop. Gabe would turn an ace, but didn't need it as the river missed Antonius completely. Kaplan now has a substantial chip lead.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 06:11 PM
Hooman Nikzad has fallen to the Fossil Man.
Raymer check-raised the qualifier on a J 4 5 board. Nikzad would make the call with J 8. Raymer could only table two red 7's. After Raymer's miracle 7 came on the turn, Nikzad would need a 6 to stay alive. The dealer could only muster up the 4 and Nikzad had any Heads-Up dreams crushed by the 2004 WSOP Champ.
Across the room, John Juanda looked to be on his way to defeating Chris Ferguson. Juanda's 10 10 had held up through 4th street. Luckily for Jesus, we show five streets here and the K on the river gave Ferguson's K 9 the pot.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 06:06 PM
Little has doubled up again.
Little got all his money in the middle with QQ after a 573 flop. Seidel was looking to knock out Little with 45, having a pair and a gutshot. The last two cards bricked and Little has managed to even the match back up.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 05:59 PM
Jonathan Little doubled up.
Little was hoping his K 10 would catch up to Erik Seidel's two black nines. The board ran out 7 7 2 4 J and Little found the runner-runner four flush he was looking for. Little still trails Seidel in chips almost 3-1.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 05:52 PM
Matusow got it all in with K 4 on a 9 7 10 flop. He was up against the Q 8 of the 2005 WSOP Champ. The turn came K and Matusow picked up top pair. The dealer rivered the J to complete Hachem's straight. Hachem now holds a sizable lead over the mouth.
Kenny Tran and Scott Clements each got it in preflop with AK for a chopped pot.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 05:37 PM
The feature table was the scene of our first all in and call. On just the third hand of play, Hellmuth limped and watched Dwan come over the top. Hellmuth would reraise, prompting Dwan to move all in. Hellmuth beat Dwan into the pot, informing the crowd he had aces as they waited for the Tournament Director's permission for the cards to be run out.
Dwan turned over pocket tens, a hand in which Phil claimed he wouldn't put 3,000 in the pot with at this stage of the tournament. The flop came K 7 2, good news for the Poker Brat. The bad news came on the turn, in the form of the 10. Hellmuth could not find a spade or ace on the river and Hellmuth is gone.
Hellmuth was able to insure at least some of the action with Patrik Antonius (not sure about the numbers), who was hoping Phils rockets would hold.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 05:29 PM
Shuffle up and deal!
Friday, 29th of February 2008 05:20 PM
Players in the Clubs Bracket have assembled and we are just minutes from resuming play.
Clubs Bracket
| Jonathan Little | vs. | Erik Seidel | | Kenny Tran | vs. | Scott Clements | | Chris Ferguson | vs. | John Juanda | | Mike Matusow | vs. | Joe Hachem | | Patrik Antonius | vs. | Gabe Kaplan | | Tom Schneider | vs. | Gavin Smith | | Greg Raymer | vs. | Hooman Nikzad | | Tom Dwan | vs. | Phil Hellmuth* |
* feature table
Matusow has already begun taunting Hachem with the "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!" chants and even jokingly called Gabe Kaplan "an old, overrated actor." Kaplan is busy closing up some prop bets with Gavin. Sounds like Gavin has Nikzad over Raymer.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 03:55 PM
Erick Lindgren was able to show the Eli a flush after getting him all in river action. E-Dogg's hand was good, sending Elezra to the rail.
The first round of the Diamonds Bracket is in the books.
Round 2 Diamonds Bracket Matchups:
Seed vs. Townsend
Gowen vs. Mizrachi
Greenstein vs. Benyamine
D. Brunson vs. Lindgren
Play in the Clubs Bracket is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 03:44 PM
Jennifer Harman found herself all in for her last 5,000 against David Benyamine. Benyamine would pair his ace in the window and Harman could not catch up.
Just one table remains in the Diamond Bracket opening round; Lindgren vs. Elezra. E-Dogg holds onto a 28K to 12K chip lead.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 03:35 PM
After the KQJ flop, Tilly made it 1,500 to go. Clonie Gowen would raise to 5,000 and see Tilly come over the top all in for about 10K. Clonie would make the call with 2 3 , Tilly turned over 9 10 for the bottom straight. The turn was a blank, but the river was Gowen's club. After a deep run in the WPT LAPC, Tilly will leave Heads-Up after just one match. Gowen will face the Grinder in the next round.
In other action, Brian "SBRugby" Townsend was able to bounce David "The Dragon" Pham. Townsend held 10 9 to the Dragon's pocket nines, but was able to flop trips and eliminate Pham with the miracle.
Barry Greenstein was also able to send the Professor packing after a couple failed attempts.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 03:20 PM
Greenstein opened with a raise. Lederer would push the rest of his chips in over the top. Barry would make the call with AK, while Howard also tabled big slick. Greenstein looked like he might steal one after holding the only diamond after the flop, but the turn and river would brick for the chop.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 03:12 PM
Kid Poker is done.
Negreanu got his short stack in the middle, only to find his Q4 was up against the Q10 of Mizrachi. Negreanu was able to catch a 4 on the flop, but the Grinder also found his 10. Negreanu's bid for the 2008 Heads-Up crown has been cut short.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 03:05 PM
We had simultaneaous all ins, one between Jason Alexander and Huck Seed, the other between Howard Lederer and Barry Greenstein. Alexander and Seed were force to wait as Howard and Lederer commanded the cameras.
Alexander: "Can you hurry up? I have a goiter over here. I have to go to the bathroom. Don't make a Jew wait!"
Tourney Director: "We have Jew vs. Jew over here!"
Alexander: "Oh, I get it... they out-Jew me."
Greenstein would double up Lederer when his A4 couldn't crack the Professor's kings.
Alexander finally got to turn over his two sevens, only to see Huck pair his ace in the window. Alexander had as many as 15 outs on the river, but could connect. They crowd let out some "awwws" as the funny man would leave the Caesars tournament floor winless.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 02:49 PM
Farha made it 1,200 from the button. Doyle would move all in for the fifth time today, this time getting a call. Farha showed A Q, Doyle tabled KQ. A flop of three rags was followed by the K on the turn. After the river missed, Farha was the first elimination in the Diamonds Bracket. Doyle will move on to face the winner of the Lindgren/Elezra match tomorrow.
On the feature table, Negreanu has his work cut out for him, sitting behind less than 4,000 in chips.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 02:40 PM
"Just a reminder to everyone that you can show cards. I just tried it and it worked." - Daniel Negreanu
Action in the Diamonds Bracket, especially compared to the maniacs in the Hearts Bracket. All stacks are still relatively even, still looking for that first "all in and a call."
Friday, 29th of February 2008 02:22 PM
Action has begun in the Diamond Bracket. Again, here's the first round pairings.
Diamonds Bracket
| David Pham | vs. | Brian Townsend | | Erick Lindgren | vs. | Eli Elezra | | Jennifer Tilly | vs. | Clonie Gowen | | Jason Alexander | vs. | Huck Seed | | Sam Farha | vs. | Doyle Brunson | | David Benyamine | vs. | Jennifer Harman | | Barry Greenstein | vs. | Howard Lederer | | Daniel Negreanu | vs. | Michael Mizrachi* |
* featured table
Two hands, two all ins at the Doyle/Farha table. No calls yet.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 01:49 PM
The first round of the Hearts Bracket has come to a close. Here's how the players will match up in tomorrow's second round.
Rousso vs. Bloch
Fischman vs. Gold
Hershiser vs. Cunningham
Grizzle vs. Deeb
The Diamonds Bracket is up next, with a scheduled start of 2 p.m.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 01:40 PM
We're back after connection difficulties.
Shannon Elizabeth was first able to double up. The actress was all in with AQ against the K3 of Bloch. The flop came K J 9 , giving Bloch top pair and the lead. The turn would come 10 and Elizabeth would hit her gutshot to take a 26k to 14k chip lead.
Bloch then took his turn with the double up, after calling Shannon's all in. His AK was in good shape against the AQ of Elizabeth and in even better shape after the K 8 4 flop. Esfandiari had ventured over to call out queens from the deck for Shannon, but to no avail. The turn and river bricked to give Bloch the pot and the lead.
Shortly after, Shannon Elizabeth had fallen to Andy Bloch. She was all in before the flop with K Q against Bloch's 10 8. The board ran 8 3 5 6 9 . Shannon would miss all of her numerous outs on the river and depart the tournament in the first round.
Rousso would manage to double up through Esfandiari. Her pocket tens holding up against the flopped top pair of eights of "The Magician". Esfandiari was able to double up once more through Rousso and looked on his way to doing it again, until a river 10d gave Rousso the flush and the match.
Meanwhile, Bellande would make an agonizing call after 5th street for the rest of his chips, only to come up short against the two pair of Sam Grizzle. This time Grizzle was the "survivor", moving on to the round of 32.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 12:41 PM
Todd Brunson's tournament has ended. Brunson was all in and at risk, holding Kd9d against the pocket deuces of Scott Fischman. The flop came with a deuce, but also two diamonds for a sweat. Sadly, the turn and river blanked, sending another cowboy hat to the rail (Chad Brown being the other).
Hershiser finally finished off Forrest, this time getting it in with better than queen high. The former big leaguer's 66 even caught a 6 in the window to help close the door on the 2006 title holder.
The NBC Heads-Up Championship has seen three different winners in the tournament's three year history. Two of those winners have made early exits. The only remaining champ, Phil Hellmuth, will look to change that when he faces online pro Tom "durrr" Dwan on the Clubs Bracket feature table at approximately 5 p.m. PST.
Only three Hearts tables remain in play; Rousso vs. Esfandiari, Bloch vs Elizabeth and Bellande vs. Grizzle.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 12:35 PM
Forrest has survived another all in. His pocket fours survived a race with Hershiser. Hershiser still holds a 3-1 chip lead.
Gold again had Kelly at risk. This time, Gold's A5 would take care of Kelly's K8, ending the qualifier's Heads-Up dreams in the first round of play.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 12:28 PM
Gold would put Kelly in for his last 2,000. Kelly was again in bad shape, running his A7 into AJ. The board read KK9K before the lightning 7 hit on the river. Kelly, a former Wall St. executive, is still alive.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 12:22 PM
Tom Kelly has announced an all in. Jamie Gold turns over his two queens to get a better read on the Caesars Palace Qualifier. Suprisingly, the 2006 WSOP champ laid down his queens to fight another battle.
The following hand, Gold moves all in on Kelly preflop, showing one ace. Kelly would make the call with AdKh. Gold would then turn over another ace, bad news for Kelly's big slick. The board was no help to Kelly, who was crippled by Gold. How he got away from queens to pick up pocket aces, I'll never know.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 12:19 PM
Ted Forrest has survived an all in.
Hershiser limped on the button, only to have Forrest push his last 4,400 in the pot holding A3. Hershiser would make the call, hoping to eliminate the 06 champ with his Q8. The board ran out A-7-5-5-A and Forrest's full house would lead to a double up, cutting into the hurler's big chip lead.
Meanwhile, at a neighboring table, Bellande is amassing a big lead on Sam Grizzle. Grizzle keeps bringing up a Bellande slowrolling incident with Phil Hellmuth on Poker After Dark, while the castaway keeps dragging pots.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 12:08 PM
Turns out Hershiser's ball will go to the player who busts him. It was autographed by the 1988 World Series MVP.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 12:01 PM
Paul Wasicka is all in and at risk against the caller, Freddy Deeb. The board was J 8 5 8 when the money went in. Wasicka showed K K, while Deeb tabled AJ (a couple tables over, Jean-Robert Bellande is loudly questioning Deeb's call). The river brought another jack and Deeb has rivered the defending champ.
We have lost the top two finishers of the 2007 Heads-Up Championship. We are guaranteed a new final table.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 11:50 AM
Shuffle up and deal! Cards are in the air and so are the cowboy hats. Four of the 16 Hearts Bracket players brought their finest western headwear to the table, including both players at the feature table. Blinds will start at 150-300, with players sitting behind 20,000 stacks. The levels will be a speedy 15 minutes. Bust and you're done.
Cy Young winner Orel Hershiser has a baseball as his card protector. No idea yet if it holds special meaning, or it's just a ball.
We have our first all in and call. Allen Cunningham was able to pick up a flush to eliminate Chad Brown, last year's Heads-Up runner-up. Cunningham will face the winner of Orel Hershiser and Ted Forrest in the second round.
Friday, 29th of February 2008 11:40 AM
Heads-Up hostess LeAnn Tweeden is announcing the Hearts bracket players, who are the first to take the felt. We are just minutes away from the cards being in the air. A horshoe of seven tables fills the tournament floor, surrounding the current feature table, which will be Shannon Elizabeth and Andy Bloch to start us off.
Hearts Bracket
| Allen Cunningham | vs. | Chad Brown | | Vanessa Rousso | vs. | Antonio Esfandiari | | Paul Wasicka | vs. | Freddy Deeb | | Jean-Robert Bellande | vs. | Sam Grizzle | | Ted Forrest | vs. | Orel Hershiser | | Jamie Gold | vs. | Tom Kelly | | Todd Brunson | vs. | Scott Fischman | | Shannon Elizabeth | vs. | Andy Bloch* |
* featured table
Friday, 29th of February 2008 10:43 AM
Here are the first round matchups:
Hearts Bracket
| Allen Cunningham | vs. | Chad Brown | | Vanessa Rousso | vs. | Antonio Esfandiari | | Paul Wasicka | vs. | Freddy Deeb | | Jean-Robert Bellande | vs. | Sam Grizzle | | Ted Forrest | vs. | Orel Hershiser | | Jamie Gold | vs. | Tom Kelly | | Todd Brunson | vs. | Scott Fischman | | Shannon Elizabeth | vs. | Andy Bloch |
Diamonds Bracket
| David Pham | vs. | Brian Townsend | | Erick Lindgren | vs. | Eli Elezra | | Jennifer Tilly | vs. | Clonie Gowen | | Jason Alexander | vs. | Huck Seed | | Sam Farha | vs. | Doyle Brunson | | David Benyamine | vs. | Jennifer Harman | | Barry Greenstein | vs. | Howard Lederer | | Daniel Negreanu | vs. | Michael Mizrachi |
Clubs Bracket
| Jonathan Little | vs. | Erik Seidel | | Kenny Tran | vs. | Scott Clements | | Chris Ferguson | vs. | John Juanda | | Mike Matusow | vs. | Joe Hachem | | Patrik Antonius | vs. | Gabe Kaplan | | Tom Schneider | vs. | Gavin Smith | | Greg Raymer | vs. | Hooman Nikzad | | Tom Dwan | vs. | Phil Hellmuth |
Spades Bracket
| Daniel Schreiber | vs. | TJ Cloutier | | Scotty Nguyen | vs. | Bill Edler | | Chris Moneymaker | vs. | Jerry Yang | | Phil Ivey | vs. | Alisha Kunze | | David Williams | vs. | Johnny Chan | | David Singer | vs. | Phil Laak | | Annie Duke | vs. | JC Tran | | Don Cheadle | vs. | Gus Hansen |
Friday, 29th of February 2008 10:20 AM
We are less than an hour away from action at the 2008 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHPC) from the poker room in Caesars. NBC has set up an elaborate Roman themed stage for the poker world's equivalent of NCAA March Madness.
Defending Champion Paul Wasicka will be back to defend his crown, but he will face 63 of the toughest, most entertaining poker players and celebrities NBC could assemble, including winners of the first two Heads-Up events, 2005 champ Phil Hellmuth and 2006 champ Ted Forrest . A draw party was held Thursday night at Pure Nightclub in Caesars to align the field. Players from the Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades bracket will square off with hopes of being the last standing come Sunday, collecting $500,000 first-place prize and the title of Heads-Up Champion.
Those who survive their first two matches will make the money. Here's a look at the payouts:
1st - $500,000
2nd - $250,000
3rd & 4th - $125,000
5th - 8th - $75,000
9th - 16th - $25,000
Players start with 20K stacks, 15 minute levels, blinds start at 150-300.
I will return shortly with the first round matchups.
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