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

03-07-2010 15:00 UTC-12

Slow and Steady

[user108095]

As expected, neither Erik Seidel nor Annie Duke has come out blazing in the first of these three finals matches.

Both players have similar styles and are keeping the pots small here in the early going. That said, it's obvious that Annie feels comfortable playing against her good friend, as she's smiling and laughing more than we've seen previously today.

03-07-2010 15:05 UTC-12

Early Edge to Seidel

[user75032]

With twenty minutes of play in the books, the early edge goes to Erik Seidel. He's opened up a small lead over his good friend Annie Duke, all under the watchful eyes of two Roman centurions.

03-07-2010 15:19 UTC-12

Seidel Chipping Up

[user108095]

There haven't been any big pots so far, but Erik Seidel seems to be winning more of the smaller ones and appears to be slowly building up his chip stack.

03-07-2010 15:25 UTC-12

Our Gallery

[user75032]

One thing that strikes us when looking around the gallery is that it's a bit older than we would expect. During the last five years poker has very much become a young person's game. Yet the gallery for this TV final table is filled with people that we would estimate are in their 50s or older. Many of them are proudly sporting orange GoDaddy.com hats passed out by the producers before the start of the match.

03-07-2010 15:32 UTC-12

The Tide Has Turned

[user108095]

Annie Duke has turned the tables on Erik Seidel and now appears to have a sizable chip lead after winning a few pots.

In her last hand, Duke won 75,000 on a board of {4-Clubs}

and won the hand after showing a {5-?}

for the straight.

03-07-2010 15:37 UTC-12

Annie Duke Takes 1-0 Lead on Erik Seidel

[user75032]

Annie Duke turned the tide against Erik Seidel by winning a few small pots and also showing down a flush on the river and a straight on the river to win medium-sized pots. Those chips propelled her to a 3-to-1 chip advantage.

With blinds increasing, the two players got all in on a flop of {7-Hearts}

. Duke had flopped top pair, {A-Spades}

, and was looking to fade Seidel's flush draw, {6-Spades}

. Neither the turn {J-Hearts}

nor the river {A-Hearts}

were spades, allowing an exuberant Duke to take a 1-0 lead in this best-of-three match.

We'll now reset the chip stacks to 640,000 each and rewind the blinds to the starting 3,000-6,000. Cards will be in the air in just a few minutes.

Tags: Annie Duke Erik Seidel

03-07-2010 15:46 UTC-12

Match 2 is Underway

[user108095]

Producers are wasting no time between matches here at the final table. After a short five-minute break for the players - and the Centurions - players have returned for what may be our final heads-up battle of the day.

03-07-2010 15:53 UTC-12

Seidel Takes an Early Lead

[user108095]

Annie Duke led out for 75,000 on a board of {9-Hearts}

and Erik Seidel took a few seconds before making what looked like a reluctant call.

Both players checked the {9-Spades}

on the river and Seidel showed {Q-Hearts}

to take the pot. Annie said she was open-ended on the turn after mucking her hand.

03-07-2010 16:03 UTC-12

Another Showdown to Seidel

[user75032]

At the moment there's nobody announcing the action on the stage, which is making it difficult for us to follow what's going on. But Annie Duke and Erik Seidel went to another showdown, and when all was said and done the pot was pushed to Seidel. He appears to have opened up a 2-to-1 chip lead on Annie Duke in this second match.

Tags: Annie Duke Erik Seidel

03-07-2010 16:20 UTC-12

Seidel Still in Control

[user108095]

Without anyone announcing the action and the monitors turned off while Leann Tweeden filmed an interview with Andy Bloch, it's been almost impossible for us to keep up with the action over the past 10 minutes.

From what we can tell, Seidel has won the majority of the hands as his chip lead looks to have increased significantly over a now short-stacked Duke.