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.