$20,000 Heads-up Championship Day 1 | 2010 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship

03-05-2010 17:44 UTC-12

Big Papa Livin' Large

[user75032]

We're starting to see a flurry of activity now, as the calls of "All in and a call" ring out back-to-back. The latest one came from Table 2, where Doyle Brunson had a slight chip lead on Brock Parker. Brunson raised his button, then shoved all in when Parker re-raised. Parker called and the race was on.

Brunson: {A-Diamonds}

Parker:

It was a queen right in the window, {Q-Clubs}

. Parker never improved from there as the turn and river fell {9-Diamonds}

and

to send Parker to an early exit.

Tags: Brock Parker Doyle Brunson

03-05-2010 17:40 UTC-12

Ferguson Doubles Up

[user108095]

Online qualifier Annette Jaworski raised from the button and Chris Ferguson moved all in preflop. Jaworski called with {Q-Hearts}

and found herself way behind Ferguson's {Q-Diamonds}

.

A flop of {4-Hearts}

didn't change a thing and Ferguson held a commanding lead that only got better when the {J-Hearts}

hit the turn. The {K-Spades}

on the river was meaningless, and Ferguson doubled up to take control of the match.

03-05-2010 17:37 UTC-12

Parker and Brunson Start Over

[user75032]

Doyle Brunson quickly took a 3-to-1 chip lead over opponent Brock Parker. Parker opened his button with a raise, then called when Brunson shoved. Brunson sheepishly turned over {6-Hearts}

but was live against Parker's {A-Clubs}

. Parker took the pot down by pairing his queen on the flop and then holding strong from there.

Each player now has roughly 20,000 chips. Game reset!

Tags: Brock Parker Doyle Brunson

03-05-2010 17:34 UTC-12

Howard Lederer Leaves the Stage

[user108095]

Howard Lederer will not be the 2010 Heads Up Champion

Yet again, our feature table is the first to break in the Hearts bracket.

This time, Phil Hellmuth took out Howard Lederer in a classic race after the Professor shoved with {10-Clubs}

and the Poker Brat called with {A-Hearts}

.

Hellmuth took the lead on a flop of {K-Spades}

and held on when the {9-Spades}

appeared on the turn. The {K-Diamonds}

was unnecessary overkill on the river and Lederer was sent to the rail.

03-05-2010 17:16 UTC-12

A Slow Start

[user108095]

The players in the hearts bracket all seem to playing at a very deliberate pace so far, with very little table chatter and, it seems, even fewer flops.

Given the pace of action on our earlier feature tables, we're almost surprised to see that Howard Lederer and Phil Hellmuth both still have reasonable chip stacks more than 10 minutes into the session.

03-05-2010 17:03 UTC-12

What Have We Got in Hearts?

[user75032]

The sartorial selections of poker players who know they're going to be on television are always fascinating to us. We've seen some colorful outfits today and Hearts is no exception.

Greg "FBT" Mueller is sporting a bright red Team Canada hockey jersey. No doubt the Canadian and former hockey player was ecstatic with his country's recent Olympic gold medal.

On the far table are two of the three cowboy hats in the room: Chris Ferguson and qualifer Annette Dworski (Doyle Brunson is on the other side of the room).

Kara Scott is looking positively radiant in a fetching white leather jacket and black knee-high boots.

We also have our usual assortment of faces in the crowd. Notables include Melissa Hayden, Annie Duke, Leo Wolpert and Emily Jillette.

One other note: Former Cy Young award winner Orel Hershiser has four baseballs on his table, three more than has become his trademark.

As was the case with each of the other three brackets, this bracket starts out more quietly than we would have expected. Phil Hellmuth is keeping his table banter to a level that can be heard only by his opponent, Howard Lederer, and their dealer.

03-05-2010 16:50 UTC-12

Back in Action

[user108095]

Play has begun in the day's last bracket, with 16 players all looking to advance to Day 2.

03-05-2010 16:22 UTC-12

Who Will Be the King of Hearts?

[user75032]

Here are our last eight match-ups of the day.

{A-Hearts}

Hearts

Feature Table

Howard Lederer v. Phil Hellmuth

Outer Tables

Jesper Hougaard v. Allen Cunningham
Brock Parker v. Doyle Brunson
Kara Scott v. Dennis Phillips
JP Kelly v. Don Cheadle
Eli Elezra v. Greg Mueller
Annette Obrestad v. Orel Hershiser
Annette Dworski v. Chris Ferguson

03-05-2010 16:05 UTC-12

Break

[user108095]

We're now on a short break while we rest for the start of the Hearts bracket.

03-05-2010 16:03 UTC-12

Juanda Gone-da

[user75032]

In our last match of the Spades Bracket, Phil Laak had the chip lead against John Juanda. Juanda opened the button and then was put to a decision when Laak raised enough to put Juanda all in. Juanda thought about it for a while and then slammed calling chips into the middle.

Juanda: {6-Diamonds}

Laak:

Juanda was visibly deflated after a flop of {A-Diamonds}

. He was given momentary hope with the {9-Diamonds}

turn, as he picked up a small flush draw. The river {8-Clubs}

snatched that hope away. Juanda is out and Laak is the last of the Spades starters to make the next round.

After the hand, a disappointed Juanda and members of his family walked by Mike Sexton. "It was a freeroll, John," Sexton offered encouragingly.

"Ace-deuce," was all a smiling Juanda could reply.