$20,000 Heads-up Championship Day 1 | 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship

03-06-2009 23:03 UTC-7

Caveman v. Zigmund Update

[user38449]

Gavin Smith has just doubled through Ilari 'Zigmund' Sahamies to take a slight chip lead in their match. The two exchanged preflop raises and eventually got it all in; Smith with pocket tens and Sahamies with {A-Spades}

. The board then ran out {Q-Spades}

, giving Gavin two pair, queens and tens, securing his double up.

Tags: Gavin Smith Ilari Sahamies

03-06-2009 23:05 UTC-7

Hachem Hits the Rail

[user75032]

That'll do it for Joe Hachem. After losing the last pot to John Juanda's ace-king, Hachem moved all in and was called. "I know I have the best hand this time," said Hachem. He was correct; his {A-Clubs}

was ahead of Juanda's {A-Spades}

. But a deuce on the flop and a deuce on the turn put a stake through Hachem's tournament life. He is the first player eliminated from the Spades Bracket.

Tags: Joe Hachem John Juanda

03-06-2009 23:17 UTC-7

Short Stacks Not Budging

[user75032]

Blandino Gines relinquished his early chip lead to Barry Greenstein and called all in after the Bear put him all in preflop. Gines' {K-?}

was in the lead against Greenstein's {J-?}

and paired kings on a flop of {A-?}

. That pair of kings held up to double-up Gines.

We haven't mentioned yet that, in addition to playing their own match, Tom Dwan and Gavin Griffin are prop-betting every other all in that takes place. Dwan won this round.

Tags: Barry Greenstein Blandino Gines

03-06-2009 23:26 UTC-7

Kaplan Adds His Name to the Double-Up Dance Card

[user75032]

A short-stacked Gabe Kaplan moved all in from the button. He was called by his mirror alter ego, Chris Ferguson. Both men are wearing wrap-around mirrored sunglasses and cowboy hats; Kaplan is dressed in a white shirt and sporting PokerStars logos; Ferguson is dressed in a black jacket and wearing Full Tilt gear.

This round went to Kaplan, whose {5-Hearts}

held up against Ferguson's {A-?}

on a board of {6-Clubs}

. Kaplan now has a slight chip lead.

Tags: Chris Ferguson Gabe Kaplan

03-06-2009 23:28 UTC-7

Poker Brat Bests Poker Ambassador

[user38449]

Phil Hellmuth has just eliminated one of poker's nice guys from the tournament, courtesy of a nasty ace on the river.

Hellmuth put Sexton all in before the flop holding {A-Hearts}

and Sexton made the call holding a pocket pair of queens. Sexton maintained the lead through the turn as the board filled out {8-Hearts}

, but Hellmuth was able to spike the {A-Spades}

on the river to win the match.

"He deserves to win this one, folks" said Hellmuth, pointing at Sexton. "Last year against 'durrrr' I said I deserved to win it, but this year it's him."

Gavin Smith then chimed in from a neighboring table: "Actually, Mike's handling it a lot better than you did last year too."

Safely on to the Round of 32, Hellmuth will face the winner of the Jeffrey Ishbia v. Leon Yanovski match-up.

Tags: Mike Sexton Phil Hellmuth

03-06-2009 23:30 UTC-7

Something in the Water?

[user75032]

The double-up bug is going round and round the room for the Spades Bracket. Ilari Sahamies check-raised all-in after Gavin Smith led out on a flop of {J-?}

. Smith quickly called with {J-Spades}

, top pair and a flush draw; Sahamies showed a bigger flush draw with {K-Spades}

. The

that hit the turn gave Sahamies additional outs. He won the hand with the {A-Spades}

on the river, making his flush the nut flush.

Tags: Gavin Smith Ilari Sahamies

03-06-2009 23:40 UTC-7

Here Comes Fred Collins

[user75032]

Collins has the double-up virus in a very bad way. He's now doubled up against Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier three times in short succession, moving from about 3,000 in chips to the slight chip lead with approximately 22,000 in chips. The last of the three double-ups saw all the chips go in the middle on a flop of {A-Diamonds}

. Collins made top pair with {A-Hearts}

; ElkY was on a spade draw, {8-Spades}

. The turn {6-Hearts}

was not a spade; neither was the river {J-Hearts}

, giving Collins the pot and the chip lead.

The crowd is starting to come to Collins; side. Can he pull off a stunning first-round upset?

Tags: Bertrand Grospellier ElkY Fred Collins

03-06-2009 23:44 UTC-7

Blandino Bamboozled

[user38449]

Barry Greenstein moves on to the Round of 32 after eliminating PokerStars qualifier Blandino Gines from the competition. Gines led out with a 2,000 bet on a {7-?}

flop, Greenstein raised enough to put Gines all in and Gines made the call:

Gines: {9-?}

Greenstein: {A-?}

The turn and river brought running jacks giving both players two pair, but Greenstein's ace played to send Gines packing.

Interestingly enough, before their match began, Greenstein pointed out the fact that Gines beat almost 600,000 opponents to earn his seat in the tournament. For more on Gines' story, click here.

Tags: Blandino Gines

03-06-2009 23:48 UTC-7

Caesar Qualifier Ishbia to Come Back Tomorrow

[user75032]

"That's a very good flop for Jeffrey Ishbia," announced MOC Jordan Siegel as he stood over Ishbia's table. That meant it was a very poor flop for Leon Yanovsky, the all-in player at risk of elimination. Yanovsky's {J-?}

was in rough shape against Ishbia's {A-Spades}

after a flop of {Q-?}

. Ishbia's pair of queens held through a turn of {9-?}

and river of {5-?}

. He's through to the Second Round.

Tags: Jeffrey Ishbia Leon Yanovsky

03-06-2009 23:52 UTC-7

Ferguson's Title Defense Ends

[user75032]

Last year, Chris Ferguson romped all the way through the field to capture his first NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship title. His past performance in this event made him, in many people's minds, the favorite to repeat. Gabe Kaplan just busted a lot of those brackets. He had Ferguson barely covered on a flop of {6-?}