$20,000 Heads-up Championship Day 2 | 2010 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship

03-06-2010 11:54 UTC-12

Harman Doubles Through Yang

[user108095]

Shortly after losing a large pot to Jerry Yang, Jennifer Harman moved all in preflop and got called to put her tournament at risk.

Harman showed {A-Hearts}

and was well ahead of Yang's {J-Clubs}

. She improved her lead on a flop of {a-Spades}

and Yang couldn't catch up as the board finished {K-Diamonds}

.

03-06-2010 11:45 UTC-12

This is an amazingly quiet tournament room right now. It doesn't appear that any of players - at any of the tables - are talking with each other.

In fact, Jerry Yang just won a massive pot not 10 feet away from us, and neither he nor Jennifer Harman said a word during the entire hand.

03-06-2010 11:36 UTC-12

Shuffle Up and Deal

[user108095]

Cards are now in the air as players in the Diamonds and Hearts brackets begin the Round of 32.

03-06-2010 11:33 UTC-12

Before the Start

[user108095]

The start of each bracket is like a small party for the players as they wander the set to chat and joke with each other. Some of the things we saw and heard over the past few minutes include:

A woman passing out cards promoting Jerry Yang's upcoming biography, "All in from Laos to Las Vegas: The Jerry Yang Story".

Annie Duke joking with Doyle Brunson about Don Cheadle's executive look. "Are you intimidated by his outfit?" Annie asked before Cheadle piped up, "I did it just for you."

Tournament sponsor GoDaddy.com passing out neon green baseball caps to audience members.

Jennifer Harman bouncing around the room, hugging fellow high-stakes player Eli Elezra and joking with Doyle Brunson.

Cards will be in the air in just a couple of minutes, so stick around.

03-06-2010 11:19 UTC-12

Setting the Stage

[user108095]

As we prepare for the start of play in the Round of 32 for players from the Diamonds and Hearts brackets, we thought it time to give you another lay of the land.

Our feature table will be occupied by Phil Hellmuth and Annette Obrestad while the outside tables, in clockwise order, will hold:

Chris Ferguson vs. Dennis Phillips
Jennifer Harman vs. Jerry Yang
Paul Wasicka vs. Gus Hansen
Doyle Brunson vs. Don Cheadle
Barry Greenstein vs. Sammy Farha
Darvin Moon vs. Annie Duke
Allen Cunningham vs. Eli Elezra

Players are being called to the stage for a group photo and we expect play to begin within 10 minutes.

03-06-2010 11:13 UTC-12

Closing the Brackets

[user108095]

The Round of 32 play in the Spades and Clubs brackets has ended with eight players, including four WSOP Main Event winners and one runner-up, advancing to the Sweet 16.

The match-ups for the next round will be:

Chris Moneymaker vs. Erik Seidel
Peter Eastgate vs. Jamie Gold
Scotty Nguyen vs. Gabe Kaplan
Jason Mercier vs. Phil Laak

The producers claim that cards will be in the air within ten minutes.

03-06-2010 11:12 UTC-12

Ripping Cards in Half Doesn't Stave Off Williams' Elimination

[user75032]

The last remaining Spades-Clubs Round of 32 match pitted former WSOP Main Event runner-up Erik Seidel against former WSOP Main Event runner-up David Williams. With blinds large, the two got all in before the flop. Seidel turned over the best starting hand, {A-Spades}

. Upon seeing Seidel's hand, Williams ripped his own {A-Clubs}

in half!

The producers first placed the halves of Williams cards on the table for the all-in moment, then substituted them with cards from a different table, and then decided to go with the original cards after all. It made no difference for Williams. The board came all red to send Seidel on to the Sweet 16 and Williams home short of the money.

Tags: David Williams Erik Seidel

03-06-2010 10:53 UTC-12

No One Time for Gordon

[user108095]

You can't accuse Phil Gordon of playing without passion today.

Shortly after doubling up Phil Laak, Gordon moved all in preflop with {k-Hearts}

and got called down by Laak who held {Q-Spades}

. Gordon jumped to a quick lead on a flop of {k-Diamonds}

, but wasn't comfortable with Laak's gut-shot draw.

He relaxed a little when the {2-Hearts}

fell on the turn and then called for "No 10. One time." It didn't work as the {10-Clubs}

hit the river causing Gordon to recoil from the table in obvious agony while Phil Laak picked up the last card and gave it a loving kiss.

"That was one nasty river right there," said Gordon as he composed himself before his exit interview. We have a feeling Laak might disagree.

03-06-2010 10:47 UTC-12

Life of Nguyen

[user75032]

Clearly, it wasn't meant to be today for Phil Ivey. After a series of double-ups, Scotty Nguyen took the chip lead from Ivey. The two players were all in again, this time on the turn {Q-Hearts}

. Ivey was the player at risk of elimination; he also had the best hand. His {K-Clubs}

needed to fade just a few cards against Nguyen's {J-Diamonds}

.

A gasp shot through the gallery as the river came {9-Spades}

to give Nguyen trip nines and the win! Each player stood up from the table. "Sorry baby," Nguyen said before offering Ivey a hug. Ivey, as stoic as ever, just smiled.

Nguyen will be back later today for the Sweet 16.

Tags: Phil Ivey Scotty Nguyen