$20,000 Heads-up Championship Day 3 | 2010 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship

03-07-2010 16:48 UTC-12

Faces in the Crowd

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The Championship match has brought a number of notable names back to the tournament room, including Andy Bloch, Huck Seed, Allen Cunningham, Melissa Hayden, Joe Reitman, and Emily Jillette.

It doesn't appear that anyone in this crowd is rooting for one player over another. Instead, they seem to be rooting equally for both Annie Duke and Erik Seidel.

03-07-2010 16:46 UTC-12

Shuffle Up and Deal

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This is it! Cards are in the air for the final match of the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

03-07-2010 16:35 UTC-12

On to the Rubber Match

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We're all square after the first two matches in this best of three battle for the championship, which means we're down to our final confrontation of the tournament. The winner here will walk away with the title and $500,000 in prize money while the second-place finisher will leave with memories of what could have been and a $250,000 consolation prize.

Play will resume in ten minutes.

03-07-2010 16:32 UTC-12

Erik Seidel Wins Second Match, All Square at 1-1

[user75032]

Well, we're going to the rubber match here at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. A short-stacked Annie Duke moved all in with {K-Hearts}

and was called by Erik Seidel, who showed {8-Spades}

.

The audience members sprang to their feet and rushed the stage to watch the dealer produce a flop of of {6-Hearts}

. Duke was still in the lead with king-high but Seidel had an up-and-down straight draw. That draw filled when the turn came {5-Hearts}

, but Duke picked up a draw of her own to a flush. She needed a heart to continue Match No. 2, but the river fell {9-Spades}

. Seidel has knotted the finals at one match apiece.

Tags: Annie Duke Erik Seidel

03-07-2010 16:28 UTC-12

Duke Doubles Up

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Annie Duke moved all in preflop holding {4-Spades}

and got called by Erik Seidel who held {K-Diamonds}

.

Duke then out-flopped Seidel when the board came {9-Diamonds}

, giving her a pair and putting her in the lead. The {q-Spades}

on the turn gave her two pair and the meaningless {5-Diamonds}

on the river gave her the pot and a crucial double up.

03-07-2010 16:23 UTC-12

Big Pot to Seidel

[user75032]

Annie Duke has just been crippled in this second match. Both she and Erik Seidel checked a flop of {2-Diamonds}

. On the

turn Duke led out with a bet that Seidel raised. Duke pondered her action for a few seconds before calling.

On the river {4-Clubs}

Duke checked, leading Seidel to make a big bet. Duke held her head in her hands and tanked for more than a minute before calling. Seidel showed {10-Hearts}

for trip deuces to take down the pot.

Duke now has less than 100,000 chips.

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.

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 15:53 UTC-12

Seidel Takes an Early Lead

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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 15:46 UTC-12

Match 2 is Underway

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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.