NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
Day 2 Completed
2011 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
2011 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
Entries
64
It's a Young-Old Tug of War
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The stage is clear here in the Caesars poker room. Day 2 of the 2011 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship is finished. Of the 32 players that started the day in contention for the title, only eight remain. They are a perfect 4-4 split of youth versus age.
In the Clubs Bracket, Olivier Busquet emerged from the battle of the "Liv Bs", then dispatched the run-good king himself, Jason Mercier. On the other side of the bracket, 2010 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel had to wriggle by Antonio Esfandiari and the 2010 WSOP Heads-Up Champion, Ayaz Mahmood, to secure his berth in the quarterfinals.
The Spades Bracket quarterfinal match pits the Face that Launched 1,000 Poker Accounts, Chris Moneymaker, against perennial first alternate David Oppenheim. "Opie" knocked off Carlos Mortensen and Eugene Katchalov to secure advancement; Moneymaker had two defeat two giants, Daniel Cates and Doyle Brunson.
The red side of the bracket sheet shows Andrew Robl and David Benyamine coming through Hearts, and Vanessa Selbst and last year's runner-up in this event, Erik Seidel, grinding their way through Diamonds.
Each of the remaining eight players is guaranteed $75,000. One of them will win $750,000 tomorrow night. Because of the amount of play that's anticipated tomorrow, cards will be in the air at the early-for-poker-players hour of 10:45am.
Until then, you can find us at the bar.
Seidel Wins Battle of Giants
A few moments after Vaneesa Selbst eliminated Phil Galfond, Erik Seidel and Phil Gordon were playing a pot for all the marbles. Gordon's short stack was at risk with 
against Seidel's 
. Seidel flopped a pair of queens and rode them to victory, 
. Tomorrow Seidel will return for a quarterfinal match against Vanessa Selbst. He'll be trying to make it to the finals for a second year in a row.
Phil Gordon update count: 4
Selbst's River Shove Gets Best of Galfond
At the back table a hand quietly developed between Phil Galfond and Vanessa Selbst that resulted in Galfond's elimination from the tournament. The action was never called until Galfond was eliminated, but according to MOC Jordan Siegel, Selbst shoved the river on a board that included 
. Galfond thought for more than a minute before calling with 
. Selbst showed down 
, with her eight kicker barely playing to take down the pot.
Selbst will return tomorrow to face the winner of the Gordon-Seidel match, now going to an all in showdown!
Galfond Takes the Lead
In a raised pot, Vanessa Selbst checked a flop to Phil Galfond. Galfond made a standard opening bet that Selbst, after a minute of deliberation, raised to 17,500. Galfond deliberated for about a minute himself before moving all in. In the face of that raise, Selbst surrendered her cards and the chip lead.
3-2 Lead for Seidel
Erik Seidel now has a 3-2 chip lead on Phil Gordon. Seidel bet a flop of 
. Gordon mulled his action for 30 or 40 seconds before surrendering his cards.
The Selbst-Galfond match remains slightly in favor of Selbst.
Phil Gordon update count: 3
Scoreboard
On the back feature table, Vanessa Selbst has a tiny 106K-94K lead over Phil Galfond. Up front it looks like Erik Seidel and Phil Gordon are about even as well.
Phil Gordon update count: 2
Grinder Can't Grind It Out; Falls to Benyamine
Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi will not advance beyond the Round of 16. Down to a short stack, he open-shoved his button with 
and was called by David Benyamine, who tabled 
. This one was over by the turn, 
, where Benyamine made an unbeatable pair of jacks.
Grinder's exit earns him the minimum $30,000 payday. Benyamine will return tomorrow for a quarterfinal match against Andrew Robl.
The completion of the Mizrachi-Benyamine match means that Phil Gordon and Erik Seidel will be moving to the feature table.
Battle of Four-Letter Names Goes to Robl
This made-for-tv tournament has a very fast structure. It's not often you'll see a player 4-bet and then fold but that's exactly what James Bord debated for several minutes at one of the back tables. Bord opened his button with a raise that Andrew Robl re-raised. Bord then four-bet, prompting Robl to five-bet shove. Bord tanked, and tanked, and tanked some more. He asked the dealer to count down Robl's stack, after which Robl pulled his hoodie on and bowed his head. Robl had the narrow chip lead when Bord finally called.
Showdown:
Bord: 
Robl: 
Bord found himself in the unenviable position of being more or less pot committed with ace-ten. He was behind Robl's ace-king and remained behind throughout the entire board, 
. Robl will return tomorrow to continue his quest for $750,000.
More Photos from the Round of 16
