First Heat Down to Smith and Woods
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Sixteen players began this afternoon in the first of two $10,500 Heads-Up Championship heats. It might be Australia Day, but it was two Americans who survived three best-of-three rounds to move on to Friday's semi-finals. Dan "King Dan" Smith battled Daniel Nielson, Darren Woods, Billy Jordanou, and a raging cold to guarantee himself $40,000 and a shot at $150,000. Barry Woods, last year's runner-up, worked his way through Scott Palmer, Nikolay Evdakov, and Mark Everett to earn a second consecutive semi-finals spot. Smith and Woods will play each other on Friday. Then one of them will move on to the finals.
Others who played today include Full Tilt Red Pro Annette Obrestad, Daniel Alaei, and Dan "jungleman12" Cates. Another raft of 16 players will play down to two tomorrow beginning at 2:00 pm local time.