$20,000 Heads-Up Championship Day 2 | 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship

03-01-2008 15:35 UTC-8

Round of 16 Match-Ups

Clubs bracket:

Jonathan Little
v.
Greg Raymer

Mike Matusow
v.
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson

Spades bracket:

Gus Hansen
v.
Phil Laak

Phil Ivey
v.
J.C. Tran

Hearts bracket:

Andy Bloch
v.
Scott Fischman

Orel Hershiser
v.
Freddy Deeb

Diamonds bracket:

Huck Seed
v.
Michael Mizrachi

David Benyamine
v.
Doyle Brunson

Tags: Doyle Brunson

03-01-2008 15:22 UTC-8

Raymer Tops Clements; Round of 16 Set

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A flurry of showdowns and subsequent eliminations dominated the final minutes of the round of 32, which ended with Greg Raymer's elimination of Scott Clements.

Short-stacked, Clements open-shoved all in from the button and Raymer made the call holding {A-Diamonds}

; Clements was well behind, tabling {A-Clubs}

. Needing a six to stay alive, the board ran out {9-Hearts}

bringing no help to Clements who was eliminated from the competition just shy of the money.

With the win, Raymer locked up the final spot in the round of 16, which is schedule to begin at approximately 4:45 p.m. local time. Stay with us for our continued coverage of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championships, as we play down to the final eight.

03-01-2008 15:19 UTC-8

Laak's Set End's Yang's Day

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Facing a 6,000 pre-flop raise, Jerry Yang moved all in on the strength of {k-Diamonds}

and Phil Laak made the call with {9-Diamonds}

setting up a showdown with the most recent World Series of Poker main event winner.

The flop delivered a quick blow to Yang's chances as it gave Laak a third nine. The turn eliminated all hope for Yang, who was drawing dead by the river.

The win propelled Laak to the next round of 16 and assured him a payday of at least $25,000.

Tags: Jerry Yang

03-01-2008 15:14 UTC-8

Hansen Eliminates "The Prince of Poker"

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"I can't lay down two eights this time, baby," said Scotty Nguyen to his second round opponent Gus Hansen before calling Gus' pre-flop all in bet. Hansen tabled K-9 offsuit and the two were off to the races.

By the turn, the board read {6-Spades}

and according to Gus, Scotty had 17 outs to win the hand with one card to come, as he held the {8-Spades}

. Despite his many outs, Scotty came up short when the dealer laid the {4-Diamonds}

down on the river, locking up the hand for Gus.

Tags: Gus Hansen

03-01-2008 15:08 UTC-8

Matusow Eliminates Dwan

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Holding

, Mike Matusow was slightly ahead of Tom Dwan's {K-Hearts}

in a pre-flop all in battle. The flop came {3-Hearts}

offering no help for Dwan, who watched the turn and river blank out, sending "The Mouth" through to the round of sixteen.

When the tournament emcee announced that Matusow was in the money, Mike emphatically shouted "Yes!" and threw his arms high over his head in victory.

Tags: Mike Matusow

03-01-2008 15:00 UTC-8

Kaplan and Cloutier Eliminated

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Gabe Kaplan and T.J. Cloutier have been eliminated from the tournament in back-to-back hands. On table six, Little looked up Kaplan's all-in bet holding {A-Clubs}

; Kaplan tabled {J-Spades}

. The board filled out {Q-Clubs}

giving each player a pair, but Little held the higher of the two and sent Kaplan to the rail.

Across the room on table one, J.C. Tran opened the pot with a raise and T.J. countered by moving all in over the top of Tran's bet. J.C. made the call and tabled a pocket pair of fours, well ahead of T.J.'s {A-Diamonds}

. The board blanked out and Tran's fours held up to eliminate Cloutier from the tournament, ending his impressive streak of cashes (3) in this event.

Tags: T.J. Cloutier

03-01-2008 14:49 UTC-8

Jesus Allows No Bad Beats This Round

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With it noted that Gavin Smith was 6 of 6 with the worst hand so far in this tournament, he moved on the short-stack preflop holding {K-Diamonds}

. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson looked him up with {4-Spades}

they were off to the races. The board ran out {A-Clubs}

leaving Gavin with king-high, snapping his streak and sending Jesus to the promised land of 16.

Tags: Gavin Smith

03-01-2008 14:36 UTC-8

Aces Hold Up

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In the first showdown of the Scott Clements v. Greg Raymer match, the money went into the middle pre-flop as both showed pocker pairs: Clements {A-Spades}

and Raymer {6-Spades}

. With a tight grip on the hand, the board ran out {10-Hearts}

and Clements doubled up to steal the chip lead from Raymer.

Tags: Greg Raymer

03-01-2008 14:30 UTC-8

Ivey Makes Quick Work of Chan; Advanaces to the Round of 16

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Ivey gets miked up for his match against Johnny Chan

At the feature table, Phil Ivey and Johnny Chan got it all in on a flop of {J-Hearts}

, Ivey holding {K-Diamonds}

in front of Chan's {Q-Spades}

. The turn and river blanked out {5-Diamonds}

,

and Ivey's pair of jacks held up to take down the pot, eliminating Chan from the tournament.

Ivey, like fellow pro Scotty Nguyen, has played in the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championships each and every year of its three year existence. Like Nguyen, Ivey had failed to win a first round match in each of his prior attempts until yesterday, when he bested a tough opponent in PokerStars qualifier Alisha Kunza. Scotty also recorded his first ever round one victory, eliminating tournament pro Bill Edler from the Spades bracket.

With Ivey through to the round of sixteen, it's now up to Scotty to keep the pace.

Tags: Phil Ivey

03-01-2008 14:29 UTC-8

Early Reports

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Phil Laak has built up a commanding chip lead over his opponent, reigning WSOP main event champion Jerry Yang. Right next door on table six, Jonathan Little has opened up a chip lead against actor turned poker player/commentator Gabe Kaplan.

Tags: Gabe Kaplan