Live coverage of the NBC Heads-up Championship from Caesars Palace
So that's it from Caesars in Las Vegas. Huck Seed seemed to be the trendy pick heading into the 2009 NBC Heads-up. Why not? All Seed did to deliver was reel off seven straight wins this weekend, running his career record at the NBC Heads-up to a staggering 18-4. That's the best mark of all time, topping Chris Ferguson's 16-4. Oh yeah, Seed is also the only player to have cashed in all five installments of the NBC Heads-up.
Here are the final results:
1 -- Huck Seed -- $500,000
2 -- Vanessa Rousso -- $250,000
3 -- Sam Farha -- $125,000
4 -- Bertrand Grospellier -- $125,000
5 -- Daniel Negreanu -- $75,000
6 -- Phil Hellmuth -- $75,000
7 -- David Oppenheim -- $75,000
8 -- David Williams -- $75,000
9 -- John Juanda -- $25,000
10 -- Paul Wasicka -- $25,000
11 -- Scotty Nguyen -- $25,000
12 -- Tom Dwan -- $25,000
13 -- Kenny Tran -- $25,000
14 -- Erick Lindgren -- $25,000
15 -- John Phan -- $25,000
16 -- Glen Chorny -- $25,000
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 09:49 PM
The second match in the best of three started out much like the first, very slow.
After a couple levels, Huck had build himself a 540K to 340K lead. Pretty soon, Huck was tossing in 85K post-flop into a 200K pot and taking that down. He now had a hammerlock on the match.
A few hands later, with 8-3-K-10 on the board, Huck calls the all in of Rousso, who tabled J-10. Huck showed K-7, having flopped top pair. A crowd swarmed the table as the dealer rivered a 5. It was a brick for Vanessa Rousso, who earned $250,000 as runner-up.
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| NBC Heads-up Champ- Huck Seed | |
Huck Seed is the 2009 NBC National Heads-up champion. For his impressive weekend at the tables, the 1996 WSOP Main Event winner will take home $500,000.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 09:37 PM
The second match in the best of three started out much like the first, very slow.
After a couple levels, Huck had build himself a 540K to 340K lead. Pretty soon, Huck was tossing in 85K post-flop into a 200K pot and taking that down. He now had a hammerlock on the match.
A few hands later, with 8-3-K-10 on the board, Huck calls the all in of Rousso, who tabled J-10. Huck showed K-7, having flopped top pair. A crowd swarmed the table as the dealer rivered a 5. It was a brick for Vanessa Rousso, who earned $250,000 as runner-up.
Huck Seed is the 2009 NBC National Heads-up champion. For his impressive weekend at the tables, the 1996 WSOP Main Event winner will take home $500,000.
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| Somewhere in the crowd is an all in and a call | |
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 08:23 PM
We had an all in and a call, which woke up the audience.
The cards were turned up and Huck, who called Rousso's 280K all in, had the new Go Daddy girl dominated KJ to QJ. Nothing exciting happening, as the dealer could only fan out a couple aces and three rags. Huck's KJ-high played, giving him match one.
The duo will get a 15 minute break before the second match. Rousso will need this to win this to keep the match alive.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 07:46 PM
They're at a snail's pace out of the gates. The room has been quiet, thus far. Ali Nejad and Leann are taping interviews all over the room, so for the time being, we don't have an MC or a camera on the feature table. I couldn't even tell you what cards have been shown in the few hands they've played. The stacks are still about even, but bear with us as this thing gains some momentum... and sound.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 07:27 PM
The introduction has wrapped. The money is tableside. Now, the cards are in the air. Huck Seed and Vanessa Rousso have each guaranteed themselves a $250,000 payday. Now they're fighting for the extra quarter million and the right to call themselves the 2009 NBC Heads-up champ.
The match is best two out of three, with each player sitting behind 640,000 chips to start the day. Blinds will start off at 5K-10K. We'll be back with some highlights shortly.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 06:31 PM
Huck thought it was time to take a stand.
After Farha made the all in move, Huck called preflop with 8 10. Farha turned over AK, in good shape to double. But by the turn, Sammy was yet to see a pair and Huck had picked up straight and flush draws to go with his own pair draws. Buried in a huddle of audience members, the dealer dropped the 9 on the river, giving Huck the flush and the match.
Sammy Farha will settle for $125K. Huck has a date in the championship, scheduled to start in 20 minutes. Huck will meet Vanessa Rousso there, with the winner taking home the $500K.
We'll be back once the cards are in the air.
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| Getting pointers from "World" and Phil | |
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 06:23 PM
After Huck wrestled the lead back from Sammy, he turned the tables and put Farha all in and at risk. It wasn't a classic race, but 44 vs. K7 would work. It looked like it was really going to work for Huck, who found a 7 on the flop. But by the time the river landed, there was a 9-high straight on the board.
Chop it up!
Huck holds onto a slight chip lead.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 06:13 PM
All was quiet for a while. Huck was slowly building on his 2K chip lead. It wasn't long before they each looked down at an ace and got it all in.
It was Huck's A 2 badly dominated by Farha's AQ. By the turn, Farha had picked up top pair on the 9 10 3 Q board, but would need to dodge Huck's heart draw to double. The river was a black king, meaning Farha had put Seed on life support.
On the next hand, Huck got it all in again, this time worse than before. Huck's K4 needed lots of help to top Farha's AK. But Huck would find that 4 on the flop. The turn and river blanked, giving Huck new life.
One more double up for Huck (his K7 holding against J10) meant he's right back in this match. Looks dead even.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 05:50 PM
Some action.
Sammy opened with a raise, then Huck moved in the rest of his stack. Sammy quickly called to show Huck his aces. The former Main Event winner could only turn over deuces. No suckout here, as the biggest pair in the deck held off the smallest pair.
Huck had grinded out a small lead, but Farha quickly turned that into a nice lead of his own.
A few hands later, it was Huck at risk with QQ. Sammy's fans saw his A4 and kept calling for that ace. By the turn, Huck's ladies were still in front, but on top of Farha's pair outs, he had picked up both a gutshot and a club draw. Seed would sweat the river, but after the Ks rivered, he was the new chip leader, albeit by just 2K chips.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 05:33 PM
A few hands later, Rousso had a shot to KO Elky.
Elky was all in with K 6 , probably wishing he was racing instead of trailing Rousso's pocket sevens. After the 2-4-5 flop, Rousso was calling for a 3, until the crowd let her know that would give Elky the straight. She changed her tune, and was happy to see a 6 fall on the turn. After the 8 rivered, Rousso was the one who improved to a straight, even though she didn't need it.
A dejected Elky is pacing around the room. Rousso is getting her winner's interview with Leann Tweeden. She'll meet the winner of the Seed/Farha match in the finals.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 05:27 PM
A crowd gathered and the cards were turned. It was Rousso's AhKh out in front of Grospellier's Jd10. Grospellier picked up a backdoor flush draw on the flop. After the Kd came on the turn, Rousso didn't get to celebrate, as Grospellier had picked up his flush draw. But after the river brought the 7s, Rousso's big slick had survived, giving her a nice lead in the match.
Seed and Farha continue to battle quietly. Was hoping that the MC would give us a chip update, but all he said was that Sammy had a small lead.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 04:50 PM
Huck continues to add to his lead at the feature table, while Rousso has turned the tables in the back of the room.
With 10 8 5 on the board, Rousso got it all in holding KK, at risk against the J 9 (straight draw/flush draw) of Grospellier. The turn would come 8 and the river 6 . Elky missed all of his outs and Rousso has the lead in the match.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 04:30 PM
So the 3:30 start time became closer to 4 pm. The competitors have been trading pots for the last 20 mins, but little has changed. As of last count, Seed and Grospellier were enjoying slight leads.
Daniel Negreanu has grabbed the mic and seems to be taking over the MC duties.
Stacks started at 320K, with blinds now at 2K-4K. The audience is just itching for some action.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 02:11 PM
They're shooting for a 3:30 start. Check back then to see if the cards are back in the air.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 02:05 PM
A few hands later, Rousso was at it again.
With 2-3-6-3 on the board, Rousso checked the turn to Negreanu, who decided to toss out 28K. Rousso then completed her check-raise, moving all in and triggering Daniel to imitate vomiting motions and sounds.
"I'm so going to lose right now," Negreanu told the audience. "It's so obvious."
After another minute or so, Daniel made the move with K-6, good for top pair. Rousso quickly turned over pocket deuces, having turned a full house. Negreanu was dead to a 6, and after the river bricked a 10, Rousso is moving on.
The final four is set. Here are the match-ups:
Huck Seed vs. Sammy Farha
Vanessa Rousso vs. Bertrand Grospellier
The cards are scheduled to get back in the air at 4:45. Not sure if that's set in stone. We'll give you an update once we get more info.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 01:56 PM
Negreanu had built himself a nice chip lead, then found himself involved in a game changing hand.
By the turn, the pot was huge and there were a couple pairs on the board (J-J-4-4). Rousso decided to move all in, and threw Negreanu for a loop. He may not be the most quiet tanker in the business, but Negreanu spent a few very vocal minutes deciding on what to do with his hand.
"If you have a jack, you played it really well," said Negreanu.
Eventually, Kid Poker talked himself into a call. Negreanu turned over A-5, only to see Rousso show J-7. The river would bring a 7, giving Rousso a better full house, even though she didn't need it.
The match looks about dead even.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 01:43 PM
With 6-J-4-3 on the board, Rousso called a big bet from Negreanu to see a deuce fall on the river. Rousso opts to check to Negreanu, who two-hands a bet of 30K. Rousso doesn't deliberate much, before dumping it.
Negreanu then looked to Vanessa's beau, Chad Brown, and told him he had a set of sixes.
"I put you on a set," said Brown.
"If she bets the river, I probably vomit," said Negreanu. "Would have thought, 'ace-five?'"
Blinds just jumped to 2K-4K, with the stacks looking about even.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 01:18 PM
Last year, Phil Hellmuth was handed his walking papers after just three hands with Tom Dwan. A calmer Hellmuth made it through his first three matchups in 2009, before suffering a "durrr" like beating at the hands of Bertrand Grospellier.
On just the fifth hand of their contest, a series of preflop raises allowed Hellmuth to run QQ and all of his chips into Elky, who held AA. A few Phil supporters were calling for Hellmuth to spike a lady and suckout on Elky, durrr-style. It didn't happen. Phil will have to settle for $75K, while Elky moves on.
On the main table, hostess Leann Tweeden was ribbing Daniel for not dressing like Vanessa today (Negreanu donned a Scotty Nguyen costume yesterday). Daniel said he couldn't find the right shoes, so he bailed.
Rousso has a slight lead in the match.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 01:10 PM
Play has begun.
We ended the first matches about an hour ahead of schedule. It seemed like a good idea to bump up the second start time and get this thing going. But they must have forgot to tell the players when to show up, because only Negreanu has been here longer than 5 minutes.
Same structure as the last matches; 160K starting stacks and 1K-2K blinds. Winners move on to the final four.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 12:35 PM
So 12:15 has come and gone. A crew member just stopped by to tell us they're still waiting on players and are now shooting for 1 p.m. Sigh!
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 11:36 AM
Cooler!!!
On a board of Q-Q-6-4-10, Sammy gets David to commit the rest of his chips. David turned over Q-6, having flopped the nuts. Farha showed Q-10, having found a higher boat on the river.
And just like that, Williams is outta here, earning $75K as one of the 5th-8th place finishers. Sammy has guaranteed himself at least a $125K payday by making the final four.
The other table must have decided they didn't want to play alone.
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| Farha, the shady insurance salesman | |
Seed came over the top of an Oppenheim preflop raise with all his chips. Oppenheim would make the call to see his A-Q was racing with the eights of Huck. Sammy Farha came to offer Oppenheim some insurance, but the line wasn't good enough and the two just said to run it.
On the turn, Seed spiked his third eight just to end it. After the meaningless river, Oppenheim, the Layne Flack fill in, is a goner. Huck Seed has ran his career record at the NBC Heads-up to 16-4, tying him with Chris Ferguson for the best record ever.
That's all she wrote for the first batch. It looks like Farha and Seed will do battle at around 4:45 p.m. The set has cleared, but we'll be back with the Clubs and Spades quaterfinals, where Vannesa Rousso and Daniel Negreanu will take each other on in an all Team PokerStars Pro match. On the other table, Phil Hellmuth will square off with Bertrand Grospellier.
According to the NBC crew, cards will be back in the air at about 12:15. See ya then.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 11:12 AM
The cards are in the air!
We had all of about 15 seconds of floor time for pics, as the crew already waited 10 mins for Sammy Farha to show and wasn't about to wait for us.
Players will start the day with 160K in chips. The first blind level is 1K-2K.
Sunday, 08th of March 2009 11:00 AM
We should probably be a little closer to starting this than we actually are. The NBC crew is busy shuffling the audience around the room and none of the competitors have showed up yet. We're probably closer to 15 mins away.
We're going two tables at a time in the day's opening round. The tables will first host the quarterfinal matches between David Williams and Sammy Farha, and Huck Seed and David Oppenheim.
The cards should be in the air shortly.
Play will resume Sunday at 11 a.m. PST with the following matches in the round of eight:
Hearts
David Williams vs. Sammy Farha
Diamonds
Huck Seed vs. David Oppenheim
Clubs
Vanessa Rousso vs. Daniel Negreanu
Spades
Phil Hellmuth vs. Bertrand Grospellier
Play
is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. PST on Sunday. Join us tomorrow for live
coverage as we follow this baby down to the end. Want to know what happened on Saturday? Find it here!
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