$20,000 Heads-Up Championship Day 1 | 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship

02-29-2008 13:44 UTC-7

Fischman Eliminates Brunson

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Todd Brunson stares across the table at opponent Scott Fischman

Scott Fischman, one of five players to have cashed in all three NBC Heads-Up Championships (Ted Forrest, T.J. Cloutier, Huck Seed and Barry Greenstein are the others), has just moved one step closer to making it four in a row with the elimination of Todd Brunson.

The players got it all in pre-flop, Fischman holding pocket deuces and Brunson, {K-Diamonds}

. The flop came a dramatic {Q-Diamonds}

, giving Fischman a set for the lead, but also offering Brunson several outs for a flush.

Despite all of the possibilities after the flop, the turn and river blanked out {7-Hearts}

,

and Fischman's set of twos held up to take down the pot and send Brunson to the rail.

Tags: Todd Brunson

02-29-2008 13:41 UTC-7

Kelly Eliminated

[user38449]

Jamie Gold has just finished what he started with opponent Tom Kelly, sending him to the rail as the third casualty of the day.

Gold entered what was a pre-flop all in confrontation armed with the {A-Spades}

; Kelly tabled {K-Clubs}

. The board filled out 2-3-3-6-Q and Gold's ace-high held up, sending him through to the round of 32.

Tags: Jamie Gold

02-29-2008 13:29 UTC-7

A Golden Opportunity

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Much to the amazement of the crowd, the tournament's emcee announced over the loudspeaker that Jamie Gold had folded pocket queens face-up . . . pre-flop. Moments later, the emcee returned to Gold's table and let us know that Jamie had moved all in and was awaiting a call from his opponent, Caesar's Palace qualifier Tom Kelly.

"Now you're the one with a decision to make," said Gold to Kelly. "You just laid down pocket queens pre-flop," Kelly replied. "Can I show him one?" Gold asked, and when given the green light, he exposed an ace.

Armed with the new information, Kelly made a quick call and an exuberant Jamie Gold quickly reached to reveal his other card - a second ace! Kelly tabled the {A-Diamonds}

and the board blanked out giving Jamie a timely double up, that left Kelly with approximately 4,000 in chips.

Tags: Jamie Gold

02-29-2008 13:18 UTC-7

A New Champ for '08

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Paul Wasicka gets miked up before the start of play

Paul Wasicka, last year's National Heads-Up Poker Champion, has just been eliminated from the tournament by last year's $50,000 WSOP H.O.R.S.E. champion Freddy Deeb.

Holding pocket tens, Wasicka led out with a smallish bet when the flop came 8-8-5 and Deeb made the call with A-J. The turn paired Deeb's jack and Wasicka open-shoved all in. Deeb made the call and the river blanked out, putting an end to potential back-to-back championships for Wasicka.

Tags: Paul Wasicka

02-29-2008 13:06 UTC-7

Chad Brown Eliminated

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Last year's runner-up and the first casualty of this year's event, consummate tournament pro Chad Brown has been eliminated from the competition by fellow pro Allen Cunningham.

Tags: Chad Brown

02-29-2008 12:57 UTC-7

The Format

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The structure of the first round is simple: win and you're in. The blinds will start at 150-300 and increase every fifteen minutes. The players will start out with 20,000 in chips.

02-29-2008 12:44 UTC-7

Shuffle Up and Deal

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The pre-tournament hubbub has settled and all of the players in the Hearts bracket have taken their seats. NBC hostess Leeann Tweeden has just finished introducing the players to the cameras and we're officially underway!

02-29-2008 11:52 UTC-7

Final Preparations

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The NBC production team is hard at work putting the finishing touches on the set and we've been told that the first cards should be in the air by 11:30 a.m. local time.

02-29-2008 03:42 UTC-7

Spades - 6:45 p.m.

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Don Cheadle
v.
Gus Hansen

Scotty Nguyen
v.
Bill Edler

Jerry Yang
v.
Chris Moneymaker

David Singer
v.
Phil Laak

Phil Ivey
v.
Alisha Kunze

David Williams
v.
Johnny Chan

Daniel Schreiber
v.
T.J. Cloutier

Annie Duke
v.
J.C. Tran

{A-Spades}

02-29-2008 03:40 UTC-7

Clubs - 4:15 p.m.

[user38449]

Johnathan Little
v.
Erik Seidel

Patrik Antonius
v.
Gabe Kaplan

Greg Raymer
v.
Hooman Nikzad

Kenny Tran
v.
Scott Clements

Mike Matusow
v.
Joseph Hachem

Tom Dwan
v.
Phil Hellmuth

Tom Schneider
v.
Gavin Smith

Chris Ferguson
v.
John Juanda

{A-Clubs}