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

03-06-2010 07:05 UTC-12

Win and You're In

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Paul Wasicka is still in the hunt to become the first two-time champion.

Welcome back to Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada for Day 2 of the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. A subdued day of play yesterday saw our invited field of 64 of the world's best poker players cut in half.

Today the remaining 32 players are all "on the bubble". If they win their first match of the day, they'll be in the money and assured a payout of $25,000. If they lose their first match, of course, they're out of the tournament.

Of the five previous NBC Heads-Up champions that entered this tournament, three -- Phil Hellmuth, Paul Wasicka and Chris Ferguson -- escaped the Round of 64. Defending champion Huck Seed, previously 5-0 lifetime in the first round, lost his opening match to Erik Seidel, who had been 0-5 lifetime in the first round. 2006 champion Ted Forrest was surprised by qualifier Stephen Quinn in one of the upsets of the day.

There are several intriguing pairings this afternoon. After the battle of the Jennifers, Harman and Tilly, yesterday, today the Hearts bracket gives us the battle of the Phils, Gordon and Laak. Two other Phils you might have heard of, Hellmuth and Ivey, have drawn Scandi sensation Annette Obrestad and everyone's favorite bling master Scotty Nguyen (respectively) as their second-round opponents. Here's the full draw:

{A-Clubs}

Clubs

Chris Moneymaker v. Leo Wolpert
David Williams v. Erik Seidel
Erick Lindgren v. Peter Eastgate
Stephen Quinn v. Jamie Gold

{A-Diamonds}

Diamonds

Barry Greenstein v. Sam Farha
Jennifer Harman v. Jerry Yang
Darvin Moon v. Annie Duke
Paul Wasicka v. Gus Hansen

{A-Spades}

Spades

Phil Ivey v. Scotty Nguyen
Joe Hachem v. Gabe Kaplan
Jason Mercier v. Pieter de Korver
Phil Gordon v. Phil Laak

{A-Hearts}

Hearts

Allen Cunningham v. Eli Elezra
Chris Ferguson v. Dennis Phillips
Doyle Brunson v. Don Cheadle
Phil Hellmuth v. Annette Obrestad

Play gets underway at 1pm local time. We'll play two rounds today, with the second-round matches taking place in two flights before dinner and the Sweet Sixteen matches taking places in two flights after dinner.

As always, PokerNews will have all the updates live from the tournament floor.

03-06-2010 08:46 UTC-12

Who's Where

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As we prepare to kick off Day 2 of the NBC National Heads-Up Championship, we thought a little seating chart might prove helpful.

Today's first round features the players who advanced from yesterday's preliminary matches in the Spades and Clubs brackets. Our first feature table will host Phil Ivey and Scotty Nguyen, while the following pros will be seated at the outside tables. Moving clockwise around the room you'll see:

Jason Mercier vs. Pieter de Korver

David Williams vs. Erik Seidel

Joe Hachem vs. Gabe Kaplan

Phil Gordon vs. Phil Laak

Erick Lindgren vs. Peter Eastgate

Chris Moneymaker vs. Leo Wolpert

Stephen Quinn vs. Jamie Gold

Play starts in about 30 minutes, so stick around as we bring you all the action from the floor.

03-06-2010 09:11 UTC-12

Seen & Heard Before the Start

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Players are making their way to the set for the start of Day 2, and spending a few minutes chatting with each other and their respective galleries before the cameras start to roll. Some of the things we've seen and heard so far:

Joe Hachem settling into his seat with a bottle of water and tumbler filled with a Scotch-like looking liquid.

Phil Gordon chatting with a random floor person about his first-round victory over Tom "Durrrr" Dwan: "I must have set the Internet on fire yesterday. Their Number 1 whipping boy beat their Number 1 golden boy."

Chris Moneymaker talking with a member of his gallery: "I'm glad I'm not in that seat (pointing to Leo Wolpert's assigned spot) because I was sitting there when I lost four years ago."

For the second consecutive day, Phil Ivey is again among the last of the players to make their way to the set for the start of today's match.

03-06-2010 09:27 UTC-12

Cards Are in the Air

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Day 2 of the NBC National Heads-Up Championship is now in progress here at Caesars Palace in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada.

03-06-2010 09:30 UTC-12

Does Someone Think Ivey Stinks?

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In her opening question to Phil Ivey at the feature table, hostess Leann Tweeden noted that his opponent, Scotty Nguyen, is well known for his table talk.

"You're kind of silent but deadly, Phil. Do you think that's an advantage?"

We couldn't clearly hear Ivey's response, but his smile was obvious.

03-06-2010 09:40 UTC-12

Moneymaker Makes the Money

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Chris Moneymaker and Leo Wolpert at the start of the day

It didn't take long for our first all in of the day. The match between Chris Moneymaker and Leo Wolpert ended almost as soon as it began when Wolpert pushed all in on a flop of {9-Clubs}

.

Moneymaker called and showed {A-Clubs}

putting him in a race with Wolpert's {K-Clubs}

for the flush draw. Wolpert missed the turn, which brought the {5-Hearts}

and Moneymaker made trips when the river brought the {9-Spades}

.

Wolpert is the first player eliminated from the Round of 32 while Moneymaker is the first to cash, guaranteeing himself a payday worth at least $25,000.

03-06-2010 09:53 UTC-12

Gold is Golden Against the Not-So-Mighty Quinn

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Jamie Gold had a slight chip lead over Stephen Quinn when the two players engaged in a pre-flop raising war that ended with Quinn all in. Gold called with pocket kings, {K-Spades}

, while Quinn tabled {A-Diamonds}

.

Neither player connected with a nine-high flop, {9-Diamonds}

, but a murmur of anticipation went through the crowd when the turn came {8-Diamonds}

to give Quinn the nut flush draw.

"One time, Steve!" called out a spectator in the gallery. Not this time. The river blanked {8-Spades}

to send the qualifier Quinn home with a story, but no money. Jamie Gold has made the money.

Tags: Jamie Gold Stephen Quinn

03-06-2010 09:57 UTC-12

Nice Shoes!

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Pieter de Korver apparently has a large contingent following along from Europe. They'll be pleased to know that their man is dressed exceptionally sharply today, sporting a pin-striped, button-down, white-collared shirt; white pants; and a pair of what look like white patent leather shoes.

03-06-2010 10:04 UTC-12

Scotty Doubles Up, Baby

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A short-stacked Scotty Nguyen got all in preflop and Phil Ivey made the call. When the cards were turned over, Nguyen held a big lead as his {A-Spades}

had Ivey's {9-Hearts}

crushed.

Scotty improved on a flop of {3-Clubs}

. The

gave Ivey a wheel draw, but the {A-Diamonds}

on the river didn't bring any help to Ivey.

Just a hand later, Scotty doubled again with queens against Ivey's queen-4.

03-06-2010 10:13 UTC-12

Welcome Back

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Gabe Kaplan chats with Phil Gordon before play.

The ball is rolling in Gabe Kaplan's favor after the High Stakes Poker host doubled up through Joe Hachem. Each player checked a {9-Hearts}

flop. When the turn came {10-Diamonds}

, Kaplan checked again. Hachem bet, Kaplan shoved, and Hachem called.

Kaplan turned over the nut flush, {A-Hearts}

. Hachem had a few outs with two pair, {7-Spades}

. He missed them when the river came {8-Diamonds}

.

"Oooo, so close!" said Hachem with a smile. He turned to his wife on the rail. "I can't do anything there. I mean, I checked the flop and I catch two pair on the turn." He shrugged and sat back down to continue his match, now at a 3-to-1 chip disadvantage.

Tags: Gabe Kaplan Joe Hachem