Kenny Tran Makes the Magician Vanish
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Only three matches remain: the back-and-forth battle between David Benyamine and Gus Hansen, the Duke-Garrett match on the feature table, and the curious but entertaining spectacle of Yeh v. Laak.
2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
$20,000 Heads-up Championship
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
Buy-in
$20,000
Entries
64
Only three matches remain: the back-and-forth battle between David Benyamine and Gus Hansen, the Duke-Garrett match on the feature table, and the curious but entertaining spectacle of Yeh v. Laak.
France Surrenders
. It turned out to be a great call, however, as Benyamine could only produce 
.The
flop hit both players, but the 
that fell on the turn cemented the hand for Gus, who moves on to play Huck Seed in the Round of 32.
Duke Fired by Garrett
. Garrett quickly called with a dominating hand 
that made a flush on a board of 
. The two graced hostess Leeann Tweeden with a post-match interview, with Tweeden asking Garrett a few serious questions about his upcoming Round Two match with Glenn Chorny and Garrett responding in his usual joking manner.
One Match Left
, then calling all in after Laak moved all in with 
."Any face card!" Yeh instructed the dealer. He was rewarded with a flop of
. Neither player had a club."Pair the board!" he instructed again. This time the dealer did not comply, putting the
out instead. The river was a safe-enough card to give Yeh the double-up. He's now at a 2-to-1 chip deficit.
Yeh Doubles Again!
.Before the dealer had even burned and turned the first three community cards, Yeh was shouting for the dealer to (once again), "Pair the board!", to the delight of the crowd. The board was all low cards, 2-3-7, and did indeed pair decues on the turn. The river fell a
to give Yeh the pot."He called me with king-high!" shouted Yeh.
A few hands later, he moved all in again. "Take all the time you want," he told Laak. Laak ultimately folded, giving Yeh another pot and a 3-to-1 chip lead.
"The Unabomber is under attack," quipped MOC Jordan Siegel.
Blinds Up!
Laak has regained a slight chip lead.
Yeh Finally Sent into the Great Beyond
, and dominated Yeh's 
. The flop brought intrigue and a good sweat, 
. Laaks' top two was in the lead, but Yeh had straight and flush draws. The turn was the 
, no help to Yeh; the river 
gave him a two pair that was smaller than Laak's.After the hand was over, Yeh continued jawing at Laak -- but to no avail. He's out of the tournament, concluding the first round Diamonds bracket matches.
Diamonds Done; Clubs on Deck
Also noteworthy is the fact that David Oppenheim is playing at all. Layne Flack was originally slated to play against Vanessa Selbst, but Flack was a no-show this afternoon and Oppenheim was called on as an alternate. He's making the most of the opportunity thus far, having defeated Selbst to secure a spot in the money round.
Here's a look at tomorrow's second round Diamonds Bracket match-ups:
Kenny Tran v. Jennifer Harman
Phil Laak v. David Oppenheim
Gus Hansen v. Huck Seed
Glen Chorny v. Brad Garrett
The first round of Clubs Bracket match-ups are scheduled to begin at approximately 7:00 p.m. local time. Stay with us!
Where's Layne?
During the break after the Diamonds Bracket concluded, we asked producer Mori Eskandani why Flack had been replaced, and why Oppenheim was the replacement rather than Chiu. Eskandani stated that Flack was in an automobile accident last night and was therefore unavailable to play today. Chiu, the first alternate, required four hours notice due to the fact that he's based in Los Angeles. NBC was unable to give him that notice and therefore substituted Oppenheim, who lives in Las Vegas, at the last minute.
There are unsubstantiated rumors floating around the room that there is more to the story of Flack's unavailability than has been disclosed officially. We will follow up as additional details become available.
Here We Go Again
Mike Matusow will start his match with a slight handicap. His glasses broke about thirty minutes before play began. Matusow sent his girlfriend home to retrieve a spare pair but she is yet to return.