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

03-07-2010 13:16 UTC-12

Phillips Doubles Up

[user108095]

Dennis Phillips before play started yesterday

Dennis Phillips moved all in preflop and put himself at risk when Annie Duke made the call. Phillips showed {K-Diamonds}

and was only slightly behind Duke's {a-Hearts}

.

He quickly caught up on the flop of {q-Hearts}

and held on when the turn brought the {9-Diamonds}

. The

on the river secured the win, and Phillips doubled up to 286,000, just shy of his starting stack.

03-07-2010 13:09 UTC-12

Blinds at both tables have recently moved up to 8,000 - 16,000. Scotty Nguyen has opened up a sizable lead on Erik Seidel. On the back table it looks like Dennis Phillips has closed the gap on Annie Duke.

03-07-2010 12:56 UTC-12

Ballpark Guesses

[user108095]

From our limited vantage point in Media Row, it appears that Scotty Nguyen has opened up an approximate 2-1 chip lead over Erik Seidel. Annie Duke's chip stack also seems to have grown, but we can't see Dennis Phillips' chips from our position, so it's impossible to tell what kind of lead she may have.

03-07-2010 12:47 UTC-12

Um...

[user75032]

Dennis Phillips fans are turning a little rowdy, perhaps trying to bring some energy to what have otherwise been lackluster proceedings. When Phillips wins a big pot, a few have busted out the Arsenio Hall "whooping" chant (or whatever it's called) and one of them has procured an air horn. It's not quite the truck horn that 2008 November Nine viewers might remember, and it's a trifle more grating.

Both matches are still fairly tight.

03-07-2010 12:37 UTC-12

A Parade of Players

[user108095]

While both matches are moving quietly along, Leann Tweeden is doing on-camera interviews with some of the players who have already been eliminated from the event.

Orel Hershiser got some quality camera time and has now been replaced by Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, who is happily sharing his thoughts with the television audience.

03-07-2010 12:22 UTC-12

Additional Seating

[user108095]

Production personnel have been quietly trying to add more chairs to the viewing area so that additional spectators can watch the matches. Their actions didn't go unnoticed, however, as MOC Jordan Siegel joked "More chairs are being added. Joan Rivers and her entourage are on their way."

Even Annie Duke cracked a smile at that one.

03-07-2010 12:16 UTC-12

Chip Count Updates

[user75032]

On the back table, Dennis Phillips has a small lead on Annie Duke. With $125,000 now on the line, each player appears to be keeping the pots small.

Up front, the Prince of Poker, Scotty Nguyen, is first out of the gate against Erik Seidel. But the players started this round with 106 big blinds. Each match is far from decided.

03-07-2010 11:56 UTC-12

Nevermind

[user108095]

Apparently, Scotty was just flushing out his system as he wasted little time in calling for cocktails.

"I'm playing with Erik Seidel. With no cocktail, I can't play with Erik Seidel," he said to the floor, who promptly left in search of a beer for the Prince of Poker.

A few minutes later a cocktail waitress appeared and set a bottle of O'Doul's down on Nguyen's side table. "Now we play the game, baby," said Nguyen after taking a long pull.

03-07-2010 11:50 UTC-12

Cards Are in the Air

[user108095]

The Semi-Finals are underway with Annie Duke battling Dennis Phillips and Scotty Nguyen taking on Erik Seidel.

One interesting note at the beginning of this match. Scotty seems to have given up on the "near beer" he was drinking yesterday and is armed with just a bottle of water as he begins his match with Seidel.

03-07-2010 11:37 UTC-12

We're Almost Back

[user108095]

Players have been called to the set to start our Semi-Final matches. Cards will be in the air after the seating arrangements are finalized and the pre-match photo has been taken. Expect the action to start in about 10 minutes.