2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship from Caesars Palace - Day 2
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 08:32 PM
After two days of play at the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHPC) we are down to just eight.
The 32 remaining players made their way to Caesars Palace Saturday with hopes of hoisting the NHPC trophy and pocketing the $500,000 first-place prize. Winners of the opening match were in the money,
while those still alive at the end of play were guaranteed $75,000.
MLB legend Orel Hershiser continued to steamroll through the Hearts bracket. After bouncing 2006 Heads-Up champ Ted Forrest in Day 1, the man who Tommy Lasorda called the Bulldog established early chip leads en route to defeating both Allen Cunningham and Freddy Deeb. Hershiser will face Andy Bloch in the quarterfinals. Bloch made short work of both Vanessa Rousso and Scott Fischman.
Only David Benyamine and Huck Seed remain in the Diamonds bracket. Benyamine was able to take care of "big game" regulars Barry Greenstein and Doyle Brunson for his seat in the elite eight. Huck Seed plowed through Brian "SBRugby" Townsend and Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi.
Jonathan Little and Chris Ferguson will play to see who will represent the Clubs bracket in the final four. After outlasting Gabe Kaplan, Little picked up aces to take care of Greg Raymer to reach the semis. Two-time NHPC runner up Chris "Jesus" Ferguson is alive and looking for his first win. To get to this match with Little, Jesus had to first fend off a couple of the loudest around, Gavin Smith and Mike Matusow.
In the Spades bracket, Phil Ivey continues his hot streak. Just days removed from his first WPT win at the LAPC, he would shed Johnny Chan before catching up to JC Tran in a AK vs. QQ battle. Ivey will face Gus Hansen Sunday. Hansen got the best of Scotty Nguyen in a race before schooling Phil Laak on the feature table.
Here again are the matchups:
Hearts
Andy Bloch vs. Orel Hershiser
Diamonds
Huck Seed vs. David Benyamine
Clubs
Jonathan Little vs. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
Spades
Gus Hansen vs. Phil Ivey
Players are guaranteed no less than $75,000 for thier weekend worth of work. Those in the final four will get a raise to $125,000. The runner-up will get $250,000, just half the winner's share.
Play resumes tomorrow at 11 a.m. PST. Join PokerPages as we continue our live coverage with Day 3 of the NBC National Heads-Up Championship.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 08:22 PM
Jesus is moving on.
Matusow got in with the best hand, A 6 to Ferguson's K Q. The 9 2 9 flop got Matusow talking.
"How am I going to win this hand?"
You're not.
3 on the turn.
Day 2 play has concluded.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 08:05 PM
Phil Laak opens with a raise. Gus Hansen announces he's all in. Laak, feeling he was pot committed, makes the call with just 9 5. Gus' A Q is out in front. The flop fell 9 6 4, giving Laak the lead and Hansen all the outs in the world. One of those outs came on the turn in the form of the Q. Another came on the river, the J, but it wasn't necessary. "The Unabomber" has fallen at the hands of "the Great Dane".
Chris Ferguson/Mike Matusow is the last remaining match of the day.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 07:52 PM
Matusow was up against the ropes, before picking up 10 10. He was called by Jesus, who held 4 4. The board missed both players, giving the Mouth some breathing room.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 07:44 PM
Finally, some action.
Tran was all in an ahead of Ivey, tabling Q Q to Ivey's A-K. The flop was all baby cards, but the turn wasn't. The K was all Ivey need to advance.
Across the room, Jonathan Little was able to get all the money in the middle with A A on the 3 5 2 flop by check-raising Raymer and his K 3. Little would river a wheel, but didn't need it. Raymer will leave with $25,000.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 07:39 PM
There is an $50K prize jump to the winners of this match. That would explain the slow play. We just heard our two first "all ins." Raymer laid down to Little's all in, while Laak doubled up with his when he showed aces up.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 07:08 PM
Shuffle up and deal.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 06:59 PM
Play is just minutes from resuming. Here are today's final matches:
Clubs
Little vs. Raymer
Matusow vs. Ferguson
Spades
Hansen vs. Laak
Ivey vs. Tran
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 06:20 PM
In the last action of the round Dolly found himself in trouble, Q 10 to J J. Benyamine was able to dodge a Q after the board came 4 4 7 8 to eliminate his buddy from "the big game".
That concludes the Hearts/Diamonds action for today. Here's who will face off tomorrow in the quarter finals.
Hearts
Bloch vs. Hershiser
Diamonds
Seed vs. Benyamine
They have announced that play will resume at 6:45 p.m. with the Clubs/Spades final eight.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 06:15 PM
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| Orel Hershiser and Leann Tweeden | |
Freddy Deeb will be next to scribble his name on the baseball. Deeb got it all in with 9 10, but was dead after the turn to Orel's J J.
The Dodger great will meet Andy Bloch in the next round. Bloch caught runner-runner diamonds to catch his flush and knock out Scott Fischman.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 06:10 PM
Freddy Deeb was down to his last 19K when he pushed in preflop with K 3. Hershiser quickly called with A 4. Deeb was able to catch a king on the flop and run out a straight for good measure.
Hershiser still holds onto a big chip lead at about 120K-40K.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 05:57 PM
Huck Seed moves all in from the button and Grinder makes the call for the rest of his chips. His A 9 is way out in front of Seed's 9 6... until the 6 in the window. Huck Seed is the first to move into the quarterfinals.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 05:50 PM
Huck Seed and the Grinder just got finished with a big pot. After the turn, Huck led out for 17K, holding 9 7 on a 2 7 6 4 board. Grinder would come over the top with all of his chips and the bigger stack. Huck would tank before making the call, happy to see that Mizrachi's 8 7 was getting outkicked. The 3 river missed the Grinder and Huck now has a big chip lead.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 05:41 PM
Orel Hershiser is looking to add another signature to his baseball card protector. Each player he knocks out has been putting their signature on the ball (Ted Forrest and Allen Cunningham have already contributed their John Hancock). He currently has a 3-1 chip advantage on 2007 HORSE bracelet winner Freddy Deeb.
Andy Bloch also has a 3-1 advantage in his match with Scott Fischman.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 05:36 PM
Benyamine was the first of the group to be all in. After the A 5 10 flop, Brunson moved all in and Benyamine, the short stack, made the call. When the cards were turned over, Doyle's pocket jacks had been outflopped by David's A-9. The turn and river missed Dolly and Benyamine lives.
Andy Bloch was also able to scoop a big pot after Fischman paid to he his flopped set of fours.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 05:12 PM
The cards are in the air.
Players will sit down with 80K stacks, blinds at 600-1,200. Those who advance will see at least a $50K increase in their prize money. Players in the round of 16 are guaranteed $25K, but those in the final eight will take home no less than $75K.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 05:05 PM
Player introductions are out of the way and as soon as LeAnn Tweeden finishes conversing with the feature table of Deeb and Hershiser, we'll get underway.
Here are the matchups:
Hearts
Bloch vs. Fischman
Hershiser vs. Deeb
Diamonds
Seed vs. Mizrachi
Benyamine vs. D. Brunson
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 03:13 PM
Greg Raymer has come back to defeat Scott Clements, ending round of 32 action.
Raymer trailed most of the match, but "Fossilman" and his A J never trailed "BigRiskky" and his A 6 in the final hand. Raymer is assured at least a $25,000 payday.
Here are the players who will play later this evening, with the winners moving on to the elite eight:
Clubs
Little vs. Raymer
Matusow vs. Ferguson
Spades
Hansen vs. Laak
Ivey vs. Tran
Players are now on a break. Sweet 16 play is scheduled to start at 4:45 with the Hearts and Diamonds matchups.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 03:00 PM
Matusow can cash in on his side bet and relax a little, he's in the money. Matusow's A 5 didn't need to improve to eliminate Dwan and his K 10. Not sure if he hit up "Fishcake" yet for his sidebet.
Hansen can pay the sidebet with some of his winnings. He just knocked out Scotty to advance. Scotty was all in with two eights, but Gus' K 9 found top pair on the 6 9 7 flop. The open ender never came for Scotty and it's all over, baby.
2007 Main Event winner Jerry Yang's prayers ran out. Phil Laak's pocket nines made a set on the flop to end it for Yang. "The Unabomber" is making his first trip to the sweet 16 in three tries.
Only the Clements/Raymer table continues. Raymer was up against the wall, but doubled up a couple times to grab the chip lead.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 02:51 PM
Pocket fours worked four Jesus, so JC Tran gave them a try.
In the battle of initialled forenames, TJ Cloutier was in a bad way with A 4, up against JC's 4 4. The board was a bunch of bricks and for the first time, TJ Cloutier has failed to cash at the NHPC. TJ bowed out of the inaugural NHPC final four and smelled the sweet 16 the past two years.
Gabe Kaplan had his work cut out for him, all in with J 4. Jonathan Little made the call holding A 8. Kaplan would catch a 4 on the flop, but the turn was the 8, ultimately giving the match to the former WPT champ.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 02:46 PM
Jesus has put an end to Gavin Smith. Gavin came over the top preflop with K 8 and Ferguson called with two black fours. When the hand was through, the board showed A 3 Q J 5 and Birdguts is free to go.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 02:42 PM
Apparently Matusow has money on himself in his match with Dwan. When asked who the bet was with, Matusow replied "that fishcake behind us." The fishcake he's referring to... Gus Hansen. Hansen put $10K on "durrr" to take down "the Mouth", saying he "was one of the sickest players online."
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 02:31 PM
The first bust out of the Clubs/Spades session comes courtesy of the feature table. Johnn Chan reraised all in with Q-9 and a J 9 3 board. Ivey had Chan covered and made the call, showing his K-J. The 5 and 10 that followed were no help to the two-time Main Event winner and Chan is busto.
In other action, Clements was able to get all his money in the middle with A A against Raymer's 6 6 to double up.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 02:15 PM
As it was in previous sessions, play has started out slow. Just wait until the 5th level of play, that's where the action picks up. The blinds will be 1,500-3,000, prompting players to get all there chips in on a number of hands, especially players short on chips, or with a big lead. So far, we have seen more the majority of our eliminations in that 15 minute level.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 02:05 PM
Mike Matusow was forced to change his shirt. He showed up today wearing a "Just Jew It" tshirt with a curly haired, jewish silhouette, in lieu of Michael Jordan's image. NBC thought it looked too much like a Nike shirt and now Matusow has a black collared shirt on his back.
Yesterday, Matusow was wearing a yellow Australia tshirt, complete with kangaroo, and waving an Aussie flag when knocked out Joe Hachem.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 02:00 PM
Play has begun.
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| Ivey, Leann Tweeden and Chan | |
Here are the matchups:
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
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 01:56 PM
We're just a minute or two away from hearing "shuffle up and deal." Play may have started already, but production was forced to wait as Johnny Chan, Scotty Nguyen, Phil Laak and Tom Dwan were all slightly late to arrive.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 01:15 PM
Here's the Hearts and Diamonds survivors that will meet in the afternoon for quarterfinal matches:
Hearts
Bloch vs. Fischman
Hershiser vs. Deeb
Diamonds
Seed vs. Mizrachi
Benyamine vs. D. Brunson
According to the schedule, the Clubs and Spades will take to the tables at 1:45 p.m. (about half an hour).
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 01:10 PM
Freddy Deeb cracked Grizzle's kings to close play in the first session. Another window job, this time the A to pair Deeb's A. The rest of the board couldn't save the Grizz, who is the last elimination in the Hearts and Diamonds bracket second round.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 01:08 PM
Upset of the day belongs to Orel Hershiser, who has just finished off Allen Cunningham.
After a Hershiser limp, Cunningham decided to move it all in with K 6. Hershiser made the call, placing his A 10 on the felt. Cunningham would find the 6 on the flop, but not after the window showed the 10. That would be all the hurler would need to knock of the pro.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 01:01 PM
Clonie was all in and ahead of Grinder, tabling A-10 to his Q-J. She found a 10 high flop, but Grinder got there on the J turn. Grinder moves on, denying Clonie a spot in the sweet 16.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 12:55 PM
Doyle has come back to defeat Erick Lindgren.
Doyle limped with pocket nines, which led to Erick shoving. Doyle would call to see he was up against Q-J. By the turn the board showed 5 6 8 7 and Lindgren was drawing dead to a chop. It didn't come and Doyle advances.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 12:52 PM
Clonie Gowen had Grinder all in. Grinder held Q-5 and was able to turn two pair. Clonie had Q-7, but she also held the only diamond with three already on the board. The river brought a diamond and Clonie began to celebrate with her cheering section. The only problem, it was the 5, giving Grinder the full house.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 12:42 PM
Main Event winner Jamie Gold has been dispatched to the rail. He was all in preflop with K J against Fischman's A 4. When neither player could improve, the pot and the match were awarded to Fischman and his ace high.
Hershiser managed to double up, in what seems to be the most exciting second round matchup. The 1988 World Series MVP looked to be in bad shape when Cunningham's K J dominated his Q J. After the Q Q 5 flop brought trips for Orel, all was well. The match is now close to even, with Cunningham holding onto a slight lead.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 12:35 PM
Third time was a charm for Cunningham, but the first two times worked too. Cunningham got it in twice with the worst of it, but still managed to catch up and double up each time. On the third all in, he got in good. Hershiser's straight was trumped by Cunningham's larger straight to give the poker pro the chip lead.
On the feature table, Doyle's K Q picked up top pair to double up through Lindgren and his 9-10.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 12:26 PM
Clonie Gowen flopped top and bottom pair, holding J-6 on a J-7-6 flop. Grinder held J-9 and would have to double Clonie up, even after picking up and open end draw on the turn.
A-2 off was enough for Hershiser to put Cunningham all in again. Cunningham would make the call and strike gold on the flop; his 8-9 found a 10-J-Q board. Runner-runner queens would show up, snatching the pot for Cunningham, who has already survived two all ins.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 12:16 PM
Two more players were at risk. This time, both survive.
Cunningham's tournament life was resting on a short stack and A 4. Hershiser made the call, tabling 3 3. Cunningham couldn't have dreamed of a much better flop than the A Q 2 he received. The 4 on the turn added a sweat, but the river 4 put it to rest. Cunningham has doubled up.
Doyle open-shoved with Q J, only to be called by Lindgren and his K 9. The board ran A 3 8 Q 7 and E-Dogg couldn't quite finish off the legend.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 12:02 PM
All is quiet, then we suddenly have three "all in and a call" cries. All three led to eliminations.
After a short wait while cameras got into position, Greenstein showed that he was all in with A J against Benyamine's 10 10. The board missed both players and Greenstein quickly whipped out a copy of "Ace on the River" to begin enscribing. After the cards ran out, Benyamine's pocket pair was still good enough to get him into the money and the sweet 16.
Huck check-raised all in holding Q-10 on a 10 high flop. Townsend was committed and made the call with 5-6, good for just bottom pair. The turn and river brough a deuce and a 7, respectively, spoiling SBRugby's NHPC debut.
On the other side of the room, Andy Bloch had to wait about 10 minutes to show that his K-5 had turned two pair on Rousso. Rousso had a pair of aces, but couldn't improve on the river. Bloch made it into the money. Rousso is free to join hubby Chad Brown, last year's NHPC runner-up, who was eliminated early yesterday.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 11:45 AM
Huck Seed was the first to player to announce an all in today. Seed opened for 2K and was reraised by Brian Townsend, which prompted Huck to push the rest of his chips in. Huck had SBRugby covered and the online pro didn't feel like bowing out this early, instead deciding to lay it down.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 11:40 AM
With the threat of a zero payday looming, the Caesars tournament room is quiet. The only sound is that of about 12 players shuffling chips. The MC has had it easy thusfar, only really announcing a couple hands. The only one of those hands worth noting, Orel Hershiser has taken a nice pot off of Allen Cunningham to take the lead.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 11:24 AM
NHPC hostess LeAnn Tweeden has finished the player introductions and had a quick chat with Brunson and Lindgren for the camera. She did inform us that it was time to "get the cards in the air," so play will begin in the round of 32 with the Hearts and Diamonds brackets
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 11:15 AM
We are now minutes from the start of play. NBC is busy fitting the players with mics and I would expect play to begin before the bottom of the hour.
The morning belongs to the red suits, as both the Hearts and Diamonds will share the tournament floor. The Doyle Brunson/Erick Lindgren matchup will be our first feature table.
Here are the first matchups of the day:
Hearts
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*
* feature table
Players will start the day with 40,000 in chips, blinds at 300-600 with 15 minute levels. The stacks and blinds are directly in proportion with yesterdays 20K, 150-300 setup.
You can expect players to bring their A-game today. Win and you cash, lose and you're done.
Saturday, 01st of March 2008 10:45 AM
The theme of the first day of the 2008 NBC NHPC seemed to be getting it in with the worst of it. It seemed that, more often than not, getting in good was a bad thing.
- In the third hand of play in the Clubs
Bracket, Hellmuth's aces were cracked when Tom "durrr" Dwan found a set
of tens on the turn. Hellmuth was gone.
- In a battle of Main Event underdogs, Jerry Yang rivered a two outer from heaven 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 showed a 6 high straight. 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.
Caesars qualifiers Tom Kelly and Hooman Nikzad and PokerStars freeroll qualifier Alisha Kunze each made first round
exits. We saw names like Shannon Elizabeth, Don Cheadle, Jason Alexander and Jennifer Tilly have short stays, leaving LA Dodger great Orel Hershiser as the only remaining celeb.
Clonie Gowen and Vanessa Rousso will be the only females returning to
play tomorrow after the other five lady entrants hit the rail. And with Hellmuth, Ted Forrest and Paul Wasicka all being eliminated, we are guaranteed a new Heads-Up champion in 2008.
Here's a look at the today's matchups in each bracket:
Hearts
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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
Those who win their opening match today will be in the money. Here are the payouts:
1st - $500,000
2nd - $250,000
3rd & 4th - $125,000
5th - 8th - $75,000
9th - 16th - $25,000
Yesterday, play started at 11:30 a.m. PST and I'm expecting the same today. I will be back shortly with more info and live coverage.
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