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

03-07-2010 05:24 UTC-12

This Is It!

[user75032]

The day dawned gray and rainy here in Las Vegas, Nevada, but hopefully that won't dampen the spirits inside the Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino for the finale of the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Eight players remain from the starting field of 64. The thrilling elimination of Paul Wasicka by Annie Duke in the last match of Day 2 ensured that there will be a first-time champion once again this year.

Four former WSOP Main Event champions remain in the hunt for the title. One of them -- 2007 champion Jerry Yang -- is for sure a "bracket buster". Few picked the enigmatic Yang to make it to this stage of the tournament.

The Elite Eight will be on set at approximately 11am local time (in about an hour and a half) to begin the final push. More than pride and prize money are on the line -- the four who win their first match will receive an automatic invitation to next year's tournament.

Here are the matches that will start the day:

{A-Spades}

Spades Bracket Final {A-Spades}

Scotty Nguyen v. Jason Mercier

{A-Clubs}

Clubs Bracket Final {A-Clubs}

Peter Eastgate v. Erik Seidel

{A-Hearts}

Hearts Bracket Final {A-Hearts}

Doyle Brunson v. Dennis Phillips

{A-Diamonds}

Diamonds Bracket Final {A-Diamonds}

Jerry Yang v. Annie Duke

For the third day in a row PokerNews will have all the updates live from the tournament floor. Join us in 90 minutes!

03-07-2010 07:02 UTC-12

Holding Pattern

[user75032]

We're still getting things worked out on the set. It looks we'll start with Jason Mercier and Scotty Nguyen on the feature table (though Eastgate tried to take a seat there) and Peter Eastgate and Erik Seidel on the back table.

03-07-2010 07:13 UTC-12

Cards Are in the Air

[user108095]

Play has now started in today's first two matches as Scotty Nguyen faces off against Jason Mercier and Erik Seidel takes on Peter Eastgate.

03-07-2010 07:24 UTC-12

Structure Changes

[user108095]

Now that we've entered the Elite 8, players get a few more blinds to work with.

Each player starts the day with 160,000 in chips and blind levels of 1,000/2,000, giving them 80 big blinds to play with during the Quaterfinals.

When we begin the final four, players will have 320,000 chips each and begin with blinds of 1,500/3,000 - giving them about 106 big blinds to work with during the match.

In the Finals, blinds will start at 3,000/6,000 and players will begin each match with 640,000 chips, again giving them a starting stack worth 106 big blinds.

03-07-2010 07:26 UTC-12

Somber Atmosphere

[user75032]

There's not a ton of energy on the set this morning. Despite the fact that the gallery is full (and the producers have been passing out tasteful black GoDaddy.com baseball caps) it feels funereal to start the day.

We didn't expect any chatter from Peter Eastgate and Erik Seidel, and haven't been disappointed in that regard. On the front table, Scotty Nguyen is known for being a talker but he's very subdued. Jason Mercier isn't engaging him at all so what we're witnessing right now is library poker.

03-07-2010 07:33 UTC-12

Time Out?

[user75032]

Scotty Nguyen and Jason Mercier both just got up from the feature table, walked off the set and headed for the poker room exit. Most likely it's just a smoke break, as Nguyen wanted to go catch a cigarette right before play started.

03-07-2010 07:35 UTC-12

They're Back

[user108095]

Jason Mercier and Scotty Nguyen have both returned to the set. They didn't disappear long enough for a smoke, so we're not really sure what their departure was all about.

03-07-2010 07:45 UTC-12

Never Too Early to Hit the Bottle

[user75032]

Perhaps in an effort to improve the energy in the room, a cocktail waitress just materialized with a tray full of Coors Light. No sooner had she started passing them out then Dan O'Brien, here to sweat Jason Mercier, let loose the first cheer and applause of the day.

Mercier is behind in his match, however. Scotty Nguyen just took down a nice pot, moving all in on a board of {2-?}

. Mercier didn't call, and a good thing for him -- Nguyen flashed {3-?}

.

03-07-2010 07:55 UTC-12

Eastgate Eliminated ($75,000)

[user108095]

When Erik Seidel breaks a streak, he does it right. Coming into this year's NBC National Heads-Up Championship, Seidel had never made it out of the first round. Now, with his elimination of Peter Eastgate in the Elite 8, he moves on to the Semi-Finals.

Eastgate's final hand started after he shoved over Seidel's button raise. Seidel called and showed {k-Diamonds}

, putting him ahead of Eastgate's {q-Clubs}

.

Eastgate promptly sucked out on the flop, which fell {7-Hearts}

, but Seidel re-sucked on the turn, catching the {k-Hearts}

. The

on the river changed nothing and Eastgate leaves the tourney with $75,000.

03-07-2010 07:58 UTC-12

Jason Mercier Eliminated ($75,000)

[user75032]

Jason Mercier lived by the river in some of his earlier matches. Today the river finally let him down.

After being forced to fold a few big pots to Scotty Nguyen, Mercier found himself short-stacked. He moved all in with {5-Clubs}

and was called by Nguyen's premium pair, {J-Diamonds}

.

With the crowd on its feet, Mercier flopped a flush draw, {Q-Clubs}

. Given Mercier's performances in such situations to this point, it would not have been surprising to see a club fall on the river. But this time the board blanked, {3-Diamonds}

and

.

Mercier leaves with $75,000 and plenty of time to catch a flight to San Jose for the start of the Shooting Stars tournament tomorrow.