$20,000 Heads-up Championship Day 2 | 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship

03-07-2009 21:21 UTC-7

Lindgren and Williams Square Dancing

[user38449]

Erick Lindgren has just doubled through heads-up opponent David Williams to make things all square over on the feature table.

David opened the pot with a preflop raise, Erick moved all in and David called:

Williams: {A-Clubs}

Lindgren:

Williams' ace-queen high held the lead through the turn as the board filled out {J-Spades}

, but 5th Street delivered the {K-Hearts}

for Lindgren who took down the match-leveling pot with a single pair of kings.

Tags: David Williams Erick Lindgren

03-07-2009 21:19 UTC-7

Farha Slices Up Phan

[user75032]

John Phan was rocking the short stack for most of the last level. Sam Farha open-shoved on Phan. Phan and Farha clinked Coors Light bottles before Phan called. Farha turned over a pair of tens, {10-Hearts}

. Phan squeezed out his cards one at a time, producing a {5-Spades}

and the

. That ace gave Phan some life, but he couln't pair it up on a board of {9-Clubs}

. As a result he is the second player eliminated from the Round of 16.

Farha will meet the winner of the David Williams - Erick Lindgren match in the quarterfinals tomorrow.

Tags: John Phan Sam Farha

03-07-2009 21:14 UTC-7

Lindgren Doubles through Williams

[user75032]

Finally, a spot of action. On the feature table, David Williams and Erick Lindgren got all of the chips in preflop. Lindgren tabled the best hand with {J-Diamonds}

against Williams' {A-Diamonds}

. Jacks were the best hand on a board of {K-Clubs}

, allowing Lindgren to double up and continue the match.

Tags: David Williams Erick Lindgren

03-07-2009 21:10 UTC-7

We're Still Here...

[user38449]

There's been a lapse in 'significant' action over the last several minutes, though this girl sat down a few feet away from media row, so that was cool.

Out on the floor, David Williams currently holds a slight lead over Erick Lindgren, Sam Farha has about a 2-1 chip lead over John Phan and Kenny Tran and David Oppenheim are pretty much neck and neck.

03-07-2009 20:42 UTC-7

Phan's Jack-High Doesn't Hold

[user75032]

Sam Farha and John Phan are definitely living up to their reputations as gamblers. In a raised pot, Farha checked dark before the dealer produced a flop of {K-Hearts}

. After Phan led out, a raising war ensued, with Farha eventually all in and called by Phan. Both players turned out to be on draws. Farha showed {8-Clubs}

for a flush draw while Phan opened {J-Diamonds}

for a straight draw -- and the best hand. The {K-Clubs}

club fell on the turn, making a flush for Farha but giving Phan a higher flush draw. The river changed nothing after it fell {3-Spades}

.

Once the stacks were counted down, Phan was left with 13,500 in chips. A few hands later, Phan moved in with {K-Clubs}

and Farha called with {K-Hearts}

. Farha took the lead by pairing his six on the flop, but Phan peeled off a queen on the turn and another on the river to secure the double-up. He now has about 25,000 in chips.

Tags: John Phan Sam Farha

03-07-2009 20:38 UTC-7

PokerNews Exclusive Video: Brad Garrett

[user38449]

Comedian Brad Garrett took some time to chat with our own Gloria Balding after his Round of 32 match against Glen Chorny earlier this afternoon. During the interview, Garrett blew bubbles in his iced mocha, talked a little poker and on a more serious note, discussed his involvement with Don Cheadle and Annie Duke's charity, Ante Up for Africa.

Tags: Brad Garrett

03-07-2009 20:30 UTC-7

'The Razor' Attempts to Talk Sammy Farha into Going All In Dark

[user38449]

In an apparent encore performance of his win in Event #29 at the 2008 World Series of Poker this past summer against Johnny Neckar (see Playing Blind Continues), John Phan just tried to get opponent Sammy Farha to go all in blind with him.

"Hey, we're going all in dark over here," Phan told Tournament Emcee Jordan Siegel.

Siegel approached the table and for a second, it looked as though Farha was on board, having slid his entire stack toward the middle of the table. Sammy eventually opted against the ultimate gamble and pulled his chips back in.

"They were bluffing," said Siegel.

"I wasn't!" insisted Phan. "It's gambling in my blood!"

Tags: John Phan Sammy Farha

03-07-2009 20:20 UTC-7

Chorny Catches on the River; Probably Wishes He Hadn't

[user75032]

The first of the Round Three matches has come to a swift conclusion. Huck Seed moved all in on the river of a board that read {7-?}

. Glen Chorny shocked the gallery by calling without much thought. He turned over {6-Hearts}

, having rivered a nine-high straight. Seed was better -- he showed {9-Hearts}

for a full house, nines full of queens.

Chorny is the first player eliminated from the Round of 16. He earns $25,000 in prize money. Seed moves on to the quarterfinals for the second year in a row and third time in the five years of this tournament.

Tags: Glen Chorny Huck Seed

03-07-2009 20:17 UTC-7

Double the Chips, Double the Blinds

[user75032]

For Round Three, players start with 80,000 chips. Initial blinds are 600 and 1,200, then increasing every fifteen minutes to 800 / 1,600, 1,000 / 2,000, 2,000 / 4,000, 3,000 / 6,000 and finally 4,000 / 8,000.

03-07-2009 20:02 UTC-7

The Round Three Bell Rings!

[user75032]

Cards are in the air for the first four Round Three matches. Erick Lindgren and David Williams are on the feature table. In her introductory remarks, Leeann Tweeden pointed out that all of the qualifiers and celebrities have already been eliminated. It's the pros' party now.