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

03-07-2010 09:48 UTC-12

Doyle Brunson Eliminated ($75,000)

[user75032]

If Dennis Phillips was awed earlier to be playing Doyle Brunson heads-up for $50,000, he may very well be over the moon now. With the chip lead, Phillips called Brunson's all in on a flop of {K-Diamonds}

. Brunson showed bottom pair and a flush draw, {9-Diamonds}

. Phillips had top pair, top kicker, {A-Clubs}

. The hand amounted to nearly a coin flip.

With most of the crowd shouting for a diamond, the dealer burned and turned the {j-Clubs}

and the

. Neither card improved Brunson's hand. He has been eliminated from the tournament, propelling Dennis Phillips into the semi-finals.

In their post-match interview, Leann Tweeden asked Phillips if he'd been reading Super/System.

Tags: Dennis Phillips Doyle Brunson

03-07-2010 09:52 UTC-12

Yang Avoids Elimination

[user108095]

Annie Duke raised from the button and Jerry Yang called, putting himself at risk in his match. Duke turned over {k-Clubs}

while Yang held live cards with the {3-Diamonds}

.

Both players liked the flop as Duke picked up a flush draw and Yang made a pair on a board of {10-Diamonds}

. The

was a great card for Duke, giving her an up-and-down straight draw to go with her flush draw, but she couldn't connect and Yang doubled up when the {4-Hearts}

hit the river.

03-07-2010 09:59 UTC-12

Yang Ducks All Duke's Outs Again

[user75032]

Annie Duke has played some thrilling matches in this tournament. Another one is developing here in the quarterfinals.

Once again, Duke had Jerry Yang on the ropes. Yang opened all in. After getting a count, Duke called with {J-Hearts}

. She was trying to out-race Yang's {3-Hearts}

.

A flop of {4-Hearts}

brought Duke a boat-load of outs but kept Yang's pocket treys in the lead. Somehow, Yang faded every card he needed to fade with a turn {10-Clubs}

and river

.

That double-up didn't restore Yang to the chip lead, but he now has a stack that could hurt Duke if she doubles him up again.

Tags: Annie Duke Jerry Yang

03-07-2010 10:15 UTC-12

Duke Drowned on the River

[user108095]

Annie Duke moved her stack all in preflop and got the call she wanted from Jerry Yang who showed {A-Clubs}

, putting him way behind her {A-Spades}

.

Duke held the lead on a flop of {j-Spades}

but Yang found a way to chop when the {j-Clubs}

appeared on the turn. Duke looked pained before the river, and for good reason, as Yang caught a miracle card - the {4-Spades}

and doubled up.

03-07-2010 10:21 UTC-12

Jerry Yang Eliminated ($75,000)

[user75032]

At the end, Jerry Yang seemed to have used up all his run-good. He was all in pre-flop as the short stack again. Annie Duke called with {A-Hearts}

, the better hand to Yang's {J-Diamonds}

.

At some point Duke figured to win one of these confrontations. This was the one. Each player paired the flop, {J-Clubs}

. But this time Yang didn't hit any additional cards, as the turn and river came {10-Spades}

and

.

Yang will leave the tournament $75,000 richer. Duke will return for a semi-final match against Dennis Phillips.

"You didn't make it easy for me," said Duke as she gave Yang a hug.

Tags: Annie Duke Jerry Yang

03-07-2010 10:22 UTC-12

Break Time

[user108095]

The Quarterfinals are complete and we're on a break before the start of the Semis when Annie Duke will return to play Dennis Phillips and Erik Seidel will take on Scotty Nguyen.

Action is scheduled to resume at 4pm pst, but we may be back earlier.

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.

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 11:56 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 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.