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It was as if Scotty heard us pose the question and answered with conviction. On a board showing , Edler moved all in with a made flush, but was looked up by "The Prince of Poker" who tabled the nut flush.
The win moved Scotty into the round of 32 for the first time ever. He'll face the winner of the feature table match-up between Gus Hansen and Don Cheadle tomorrow afternoon.
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No one can question Scotty Nguyen's poker resume; his long list of accomplishments speaks for itself. However, "The Prince of Poker" has been invited to the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championships all three years the tournament has been held, though he has yet to win a first round match!
Here's a look at Scotty's career NBC Heads-Up results:
2005: Lost to Mike Caro
2006: Lost to Ernie Durack
2007: Lost to Phil Gordon
2008: ?
This year he's been matched up with consummate tournament pro Bill Edler, perhaps his toughest opponent yet. Can Scotty reach the round of 32? Stay tuned... we'll find out shortly!
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In an opening round match-up of WSOP main event winners Jerry Yang and Chris Moneymaker, reigning champ Yang prevailed, catching a miracle two-outer on the river to send the '03 champ to the rail.
Yang opened the pot with a standard raise and Moneymaker kicked it up a notch. Yang answered with a third bet, which Moneymaker countered by moving all in over the top. Yang made the call and tabled , in bad shape against Moneymaker's .
By the turn, the board read , leaving Yang drawing to two outs with one card to come. As fate would have it, Yang spiked a third four on the river to take down the pot and the match.
A good sport, Moneymaker joined the crowd in congratulating Yang with a round of applause before exiting the tournament stage.
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Johnny Chan and David Williams are matched up on table five and Chan just took down a monster pot to take a 3-1chip lead over Williams early in the second level of play.
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PokerStars online qualifier Alisha Kunze
The lone PokerStars qualifier in today's field, Alisha Kunze of Greensburg, Indiana won her entry into the tournament via a series of online freerolls, ultimately besting a field of 256 players in the final round to earn a spot on the show.
Kunze has been playing online poker for about four and a half years, but this is her first live event. Some might say she's started her live poker career running bad, as she's drawn a seat across the table from Phil Ivey in the opening round.
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NBC Hostess Leeann Tweeden
The final group of players in today's opening round of play are in their seats, miked up and ready to play. Tournament hostess Leeann Tweeden has just given the green light to get the cards in the air and we're off.
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Chris Ferguson has just eliminated John Juanda from the tournament to earn a spot in the round of 32, leaving just eight spots left to be claimed by those in the Spades bracket, which is set to begin in approximately twenty minutes.
Here's how the Clubs bracket looks for tomorrow's round of 32:
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Moments after suffering a major bad beat at the hands of Gavin Smith, Tom Schneider found himself racing for his tournament life, holding pocket nines against Smith's . The board filled out J-K-10-8-5 giving Smith a bigger pair and the victory, earning him a spot in the round of 32.
Two tables over, with the board showing 10-2-3, Mike Matusow opened with a 2,000 bet which was met by an all-in re-raise from Joe Hachem. Matusow made the call and tabled , in great shape against Hachem's . The turn and river came A, J giving Matusow two pair and the match, propelling him into the round of 32.
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"I need a little bit of a miracle," Gavin Smith said while awaiting his showdown against opponent Tom Schneider.
When it was time to table the cards, Gavin showed a meager and found himself a big dog to Schneider's pocket queens. Needing all kinds of help, Gavin's chances improved immensely after the flop came giving him an open-ended straight draw. Gavin locked up the hand on the turn when the peeled off, giving him a pot-clinching straight.
Schneider was left with less than 10,000 in chips after the loss.
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With the blinds now at 600/1,200, the players have picked up the pace a bit and we've seen three eliminations in the last five minutes.
Over on table two, Kenny Tran was eliminated by Scott Clements when his A-7 failed to run down Clements' A-K in a pre-flop all in confrontation.
Across the room on table five, Patrik Antonius lost a coinflip holding pocket twos against Kaplan's when the board filled out .
And finally, our most recently eliminated player was Erik Seidel, who was sent to the rail by Jonathan Little whose pocket fours held up against Seidel's A-9 in another pre-flop all in contest.
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, Edler moved all in with a made flush, but was looked up by "The Prince of Poker" who tabled the nut flush.
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, leaving Yang drawing to two outs with one card to come. As fate would have it, Yang spiked a third four on the river to take down the pot and the match.
. The board filled out J-K-10-8-5 giving Smith a bigger pair and the victory, earning him a spot in the round of 32.
and found himself a big dog to Schneider's pocket queens. Needing all kinds of help, Gavin's chances improved immensely after the flop came 
giving him an open-ended straight draw. Gavin locked up the hand on the turn when the 
