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

03-05-2010 06:36 UTC-12

Two Players Enter...

[user75032]

Good afternoon and welcome to Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada for the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Over the course of the next three days 57 invited players and 7 qualifiers will compete in an NCAA basketball-style single-elimination heads-up tournament. Whichever player wins six matches in a row will take home $500,000.

This stop on the annual tournament calendar was new in 2005. Over the next six years it became a pro and fan favorite.

There has never been a two-time champion of this event. Previous winners include Phil Hellmuth (2005), Ted Forrest (2006), Paul Wasicka (2007), Chris Ferguson (2008) and Huck Seed (2009). Each man is in the field again this year.

Last night NBC held a bracket draw party at PURE nightclub inside Caesars. The event was hosted by the now-standard pairing of Leann Tweeden and Ali Nejad. Tweeden and Nejad will both be on hand for the next three days to announce the action directly from the tournament floor.

Play kicks off at 1:30 p.m. local time, in about three hours. If you're local to Las Vegas, come join us on set. Otherwise keep your browser pointed right here for what is sure to be an entertaining three days!

03-05-2010 08:52 UTC-12

Clubs Pairings

[user75032]

The first bracket on tap today is the Clubs Bracket. Here are the pairings:

Feature Table

David Williams v. Joe Cada

Outer Tables

Patrik Antonius v. Chris Moneymaker
Leo Wolpert v. Eric Baldwin
Erik Seidel v. Huck Seed
Dan Ramirez v. Erick Lindgren
Peter Eastgate v. Bertrand Grospellier
Stephen Quinn v. Ted Forrest
Dario Minieri v. Jamie Gold

03-05-2010 09:24 UTC-12

Shuffle Up and Deal

[user108095]

Action in the Clubs bracket has started, with David Williams and Joe Cada occupying center stage.

03-05-2010 09:29 UTC-12

Moneymaker Itching for Action

[user75032]

Chris Moneymaker was one of the last players to take his seat before the introductions. He drew Patrik Antonius as his opponent. After a brief handshake and a few inaudible words, Moneymaker asked Antonius, "Can we play PLO? Is that cool?"

Not today, Chris. But we bet that Patrik would be willing to play PLO with you online whenever you want.

Tags: Chris Moneymaker Patrik Antonius

03-05-2010 09:32 UTC-12

Quiet Time

[user108095]

Play has been running for about three minutes now and the room is eerily quiet in the early going. Even legendary table talkers like Jamie Gold and Dario Minieri are keeping the conversation to a minimum as the players continue to feel each other out.

03-05-2010 09:37 UTC-12

Faces in the Crowd

[user108095]

A couple of familiar faces are in the crowd for this first round match, including Jesper Hougaard sweating fellow Scandi Peter Eastgate and Erica Schoenberg cheering on her pal Erick Lindgren.

03-05-2010 09:55 UTC-12

Patrik Antonius Eliminated

[user108095]

Patrik Antonius is the first player eliminated from this year's Heads-Up Championship.

Antonius' demise came at the hands of former Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker when he pushed all in on a board of {5-Clubs}

. Moneymaker made the call but didn't seem comfortable, telling Antonius "I don't do very good at all ins."

He seemed a lot happier when the cards were turned up though as his {5-Spades}

was way ahead of Antonius' {5-Hearts}

. The

brought a possibility of a chop on the turn, but the {6-Spades}

on the river paired the board and Moneymaker moved on to the round of 32.

03-05-2010 10:01 UTC-12

Dario Minieri Eliminated

[user108095]

Jamie Gold's luck continues to hold as he just eliminated Dario Minieri in their first-round match.

Minieri moved all in preflop with pocket deuces and got a quick call by Gold who held pocket sevens. With his mother hovering in the background, Gold sweated the board which fell {6-Clubs}

.

03-05-2010 10:07 UTC-12

Extreme Makeover, Poker Edition

[user75032]

David Williams, from our vantage from the bleachers

There seems to be a trend lately in poker circles for players to make over their images. For example, at NAPT Venetian it took us more than a day to even notice that Steve Billirakis was even in the field.

That trend is continuing here at the National Heads-Up Poker Champioinship. David Williams is rocking some thick-framed black glasses and has grown his hair out, foregoing his trademark close-cropped buzz cut. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier also is sporting an unusual hairstyle -- his hair is flat and completely un-dyed any of his typical vibrant colors. MOC Jordan Siegel called him the "new-look ElkY".

On the far side of the room, Ted Forrest doesn't look made-over, but there is *something* different about him.

03-05-2010 10:09 UTC-12

The Kid Lives

[user75032]

Don't call it a comeback yet, but Joe Cada has found a second life. Down to just 5,000 chips in his match against David Williams, Cada re-raised all in after Williams open-raised the button. Williams called with {Q-Diamonds}