$20,000 Heads-up Championship Day 3 | 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship

03-08-2009 17:43 UTC-7

Trading Places

[user38449]

Huck Seed has just retaken the chip lead from Sammy Farha after winning a few successive hands, though the match remains tight.

03-08-2009 17:36 UTC-7

Seed v. Farha Update

[user38449]

Tournament Emcee Jordan Siegel just announced that Sammy Farha is currently leading in his match against Huck Seed by a count of 420,000 to 220,000.

The blinds are now at 15,000/30,000.

03-08-2009 17:34 UTC-7

Rousso Eliminates Grospellier, Moves on to Final

[user75032]

Railbirds craning to see the final hand.

Bertrand Grospellier and Vanessa Rousso were all in, and again the crowd rushed the table. Grospellier was quite short after losing the last pot and could only muster up {K-Clubs}

. He was against Rousso's {7-Spades}

.

"Insurance!" called out Sam Farha from within the press of spectators.

The flop was all small cards, {2-Diamonds}

. Grospellier paired sixes with the {6-Spades}

turn, but that wasn't enough to overtake Rousso. He would need to improve again on the river. The dealer burned and turned the {8-Hearts}

, making an unnecessary straight for Rousso. She dragged the pot and eliminated Grospellier from the tournament.

After the win, Rousso turned around and was greeted with a huge bear hug by Chad Brown. She now will await the winner of the Seed-Farha match to see who will be crowned the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker champion.

Tags: Bertrand Grospellier Vanessa Rousso

03-08-2009 17:24 UTC-7

Rousso Doubles Up Again

[user75032]

The entire crowd rushed the back table after Vanessa Rousso and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier got all the chips in preflop. Rousso's hand, {A-Hearts}

, had the lead on Grospellier's {J-Diamonds}

. Neither player improved on a flop of {8-Diamonds}

, but the turn was a perfect drama card. It fell {K-Diamonds}

, drawing a dramatic gasp from the crowd. Rousso had top pair but Grospellier picked up a flush draw. With everyone craning to see the table, the dealer burned and turn a blank, the {9-Spades}

, for the river.

ElkY had the chip lead going into the hand. He is now the short stack.

Tags: Bertrand Grospellier Vanessa Rousso

03-08-2009 17:17 UTC-7

Not Much Time Left

[user75032]

Blinds for each match have moved up to 10,000 and 20,000. Bertrand Grospellier leads Vanessa Rousso at the back table; Huck Seed is still barely in front of Sam Farha at the front table. One would assume that with only 640,000 chips on each table, neither match will last much longer.

03-08-2009 17:09 UTC-7

Grinding Away

[user75032]

Neither Sam Farha nor Bertrand Grospellier is giving up the ghost without a fight. Each has continued to chip away at his opponent, narrowing the chip deficit against him. Grospellier is almost level with Rousso again after losing a huge all-in pot earlier when he missed a combination straight-and-flush draw against Rousso's overpair.

03-08-2009 16:49 UTC-7

Rousso Ducks, Dodges and Weaves Her Way to a Double-Up

[user75032]

All the money went in on a flop of {10-Diamonds}

between Bertrand Grospellier and Vanessa Rousso. Rousso had the best hand, {K-Diamonds}

, but Grospellier had the best draw with {J-Diamonds}

. Grospellier would take the pot, and the match, with any diamond, any queen, or any seven. The turn paired the board {8-Clubs}

and the river blanked {6-Spades}

, giving Rousso a huge double-up. She now has the chip advantage against Grospellier.

Tags: Bertrand Grospellier Vanessa Rousso

03-08-2009 16:42 UTC-7

Scoreboard Update

[user75032]

The four players continue to circle and jab. Sam Farha has closed the gap between him and Huck Seed, bringing the match virtually dead even. At the back table, Bertrand Grospellier continues to lead Vanessa Rousso. Blinds just went up to 5,000 and 10,000. That's going to create some pressure and some action.

03-08-2009 16:26 UTC-7

A New Career for Negreanu

[user75032]

Producer Mori Eskandani just gave Daniel Negreanu a microphone. Negreanu is calling the action in the match between Huck Seed and Sam Farha and joking around with Farha.

"I'd love to get in this match right now," remarked Negreanu in response to an inaudible comment from Farha. "You look like you're steaming."

He took a quick look back at the match between Bertrand Grospellier and Vanessa Rousso, a match Grospellier leads. "See, I had her like that too," Negreanu told Grospellier as he pointed at Grospellier's two-to-one chip advantage. "It didn't work."

03-08-2009 16:23 UTC-7

Grospellier's Turn Bet Produces a Fold

[user75032]

With three clubs on the board, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier led out with a turn bet of a sizable 52,500. His opponent, Vanessa Rousso, tanked for two minutes before mucking her hand. Grospellier has the chip lead in their match.