Day 7 of the World Championship of Online Poker saw the return of a tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million, along with a smaller stud event that still cruised past its pre-start guarantee by a wide margin. The $215-plus-rebuys Event #13 at PokerStars featured lots of star power late, with Josh Arieh and Kevin Saul the focal points of attention in the event before “lrdvoldemort” surged to the win.

WCOOP Event #13: $200+15 No-Limit Hold’em w/ Rebuys, $1,000,000 Guaranteed

The $200+15 NLHE event with rebuys had 2,234 entrants, who collectively rebought 2,635 times and added on another 1,524 times. Put it all
together and it made a prize pool of $1,278,600. Several big names made it close to the final table but fell just short. Among them were Rami “arbianight” Boukai in 14th place (7,671.60), Zach “nofingclue11″ Clark in 17th place ($5,114.40), Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy in 20th place ($2,685.06), UH Big Tex in 39th ($2,301.48), Stuart “the donator” Paterson in 78th ($1,917.90), Juan “Vietcong01″ Barros in 82nd ($1,917.90), and Team PokerStars Pro member Chad Brown in 144th ($1,662.18).

The final table itself had its share of big names, too. Leading the way in chips was Josh “nitbuster” Arieh, and right behind him was Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul. Saul led with roughly 30 players left, but found himself holding the shortest stack with 16 remaining. However, a flurry of good luck (K-9 over A-3, A-9 over A-J, K-K over A-A – all three were all-ins preflop and each doubled his stack) propelled him towards the top of the leader board. An exciting final table was sure to come.

The chip counts as the final table began:

Josh “nitbuster” Arieh – 3,738,562
Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul – 2,717,000
ACESEDAI – 2,057,663
Doug “imcastleman” Dicken – 1,702,714
omalos – 1,490,448
moe32746 – 1,257,246
TheKaas – 1,161,020
lrdvoldemort – 1,045,133
Sykoen – 664,214

The first one to be eliminated from the final table was ACESEDAI, who started third in chips before things went downhill. With the blinds at 20,000/40,000 and an ante of 4,000, ACESEDAI made it 120,000 to go from middle position and moe32746 called from the big blind. The

flop saw moe32746 check and ACESEDAI bet 240,000, which was quickly called. The

came on the turn and again it was checked to ACESEDAI, who moved all in for 1,079,663. Moe32746 snap-called and showed

for a straight. ACESEDAI’s

needed a nine for an unlikely chop but the river was the

, eliminating ACESEDAI in ninth place for $14,192.46.

Next to go was TheKaas. The blinds and antes were now at the 25,000/50,000/5,000 level. From the cutoff, lrdvoldemort moved all in for 1,346,266 and TheKaas wasted little time calling all-in for 1,114,974, He showed

, well ahead of lrdvoldemort’s

. However, the board ran out

, felting TheKaas in eighth place for a payday of $23,014.80. Two hands later the tournament was down to six players. Doug “imcastleman” Dicken moved all in from the small blind for his last 782,512 and Sykoen called all-in from the big blind for 561,939. Dicken showed

but had run into

. Dicken would need a nine or diamonds to win the hand and the latter would come. The board ran out

and Dicken made the nut flush to eliminate Sykoen in seventh place for $35,800.80.

Coming in as the two biggest stacks, Josh Arieh and Kevin Saul were primed to clash. Arieh still held the top spot on the leader board while Saul had slipped. Their inevitable duel would soon occur, resulting in Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul’s sixth-place elimination. With blinds and antes at the 30,000/60,000/6,000 level, lrdvoldemort raised to 150,000 on the button and Saul called from the small blind. Arieh then reraised to 420,000, prompting lrdvoldemort to fold. Saul deliberated briefly before calling and seeing a flop of

. He checked it over to Arieh who immediately moved all in, putting Saul’s tournament life at potential risk. Eventually, Saul clicked the call button and showed

but trailed Arieh’s

. Unfortunately for Saul, the turn and river came

and

. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul earned $48,586.80 for sixth place.

A few hands later lrdvoldemort won a monster pot that left the tournament three-handed. After a flurry of preflop raising involving four of the remaining five players, Doug “imcastleman” Dicken was all in with

as the short stack, omalos was all in with

, and lrdvoldemort had a chance to knock them both out with

. The flop almost certainly guaranteed it, coming out

. The turn brought the

, which gave omalos a chance, but the

river gave lrdvoldemort queens full. Doug “imcastleman” Dicken finished in fifth place for $61,372.80, and omalos was the fourth-place finisher for $74,158.80.

The chip counts at the start of three-handed play were:

Josh “nitbuster” Arieh – 7,154,759
lrdvoldemort – 5,713,069
moe32746 – 2,966,172

Surprisingly, it would be Josh Arieh finishing the tournament in third place. After committing himself to a call with

and failing to catch up to pocket kings, Arieh was the short stack. When the blinds were 40,000/80,000 with an 8,000 ante, Arieh put his remaining chips in with

, but was up against lrdvoldemort’s

. The board would not improve Arieh, coming out

. Josh “nitbuster” Arieh earned $110,215.32 for his third-place showing.

At the start of heads-up play, these were the chip counts:

lrdvoldemort – 8,285,112
moe32746 – 7,548,888

The battle for the bracelet was competitive, with each player managing his own double-up to stay in the fight. The chip lead swung back and forth, but in the end it was lrdvoldemort who reigned supreme. After winning a coin flip to take 4.5-to-1 chip lead, lrdvoldemort had the upper hand. With blinds of 60,000/120,000 and an ante of 12,000, lrdvoldemort min-raised to 240,000 and moe32746 called. The flop came

and moe32746 would soon be all in with

, needing to get lucky to catch lrdvoldemort’s

. The turn and river were no help to moe32746, who finished as runner-up for a prize of $153,432.00.

The winner of WCOOP Event #13 was lrdvoldemort, who bested a final table that boasted two of the game’s elite at the top of the chip counts. Lrdvoldemort battled from eighth in chips at the start to holding all of the chips at the end, winning the championship bracelet and $207,772.50.

The final results were:

1. lrdvoldemort – $207,772.50
2. moe32746 – $153,432.00
3. Josh “nitbuster” Arieh – $110,215.32
4. omalos – $74,158.80
5. Doug “imcastleman” Dicken – $61,372.80
6. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul – $48,586.80
7. Sykoen – $35,800.80
8. TheKaas – $23,014.80
9. ACESEDAI – $14,192.46

WCOOP Event #14: $300+20 Seven-card Stud, $100,000 Guaranteed

The only seven-card stud tournament of the WCOOP took place on Day 7. A field of 627 made up a prize pool of $188,100. Notable finishes included Steve “Rabscuttle” Mil in 14th place ($2,351.25), “xthesteinx” in 16th place ($2,351.25), Steve “Thorladen” Weinstein in 17th ($1,881.00), Chris “TheTownhouse” Odle in 44th ($940.50), and Kevin “BeLOWaBOVe” Saul in 49th ($846.45). The final table came to a close 14 hours after play began and, following a two-way deal, Mildred53 outlasted the rest to capture the title and 28,608.50.

The final standings were:

*1. Mildred53 – $28,608.50
*2. tiffaniejoy – $25,000
3. adsonvonmelk – $13,637.25
4. fly high989 – $9,405
5. yhcaep – $5,643
6. SanibelSanta – $4,702.50
7. AGame18 – $3,762
8. lilletrold – $3,291.75

* — two-way chop for remaining prize money; $2,000 to eventual winner

Seat 1: Andy Bloch (Las Vegas, Nevada) — 370,000
Seat 2: Rob Hollink (Groningen, Netherlands) — 893,000
Seat 3: Tommy Hang (Seattle, Washington) — 578,000
Seat 4: Cy Jassinowsky (Johannesburg, South Africa) — 231,000
Seat 5: Jerrod Ankenman (Avon, Connecticut) — 441,000
Seat 6: Chris Vitch (San Diego, California) — 201,000
Seat 7: Brock Parker (Silver Spring, Maryland) — 166,000
Seat 8: J.C. Tran (Sacramento, California) — 247,000
Seat 9: Aaron Katz (Seattle, Washington) — 1,232,000

Day 2 began with 97 players, fewer than half the starting field, and would play down to the final nine. Along the way 70 players finished out of the money, including Huck Seed, Howard Lederer, Todd Brunson, John Hennigan, Erick Lindgren and Greg Mueller. A surprising elimination, just short of cashing, was Day 1 fourth-place finisher Justin Bonomo.

Sometimes it’s good to be lucky, but for J.C. Tran, sometimes it’s good to be oblivious. J.C. Tran was involved in a three-way hand which had been bet and called down all the way to the turn. When the fourth spade spiked on the river, Tran called an all-in bet and took down the hand with a set of sevens since his opponent had no spade. When some at the table asked Tran why he wasn’t worried about the fourth spade he said, it was easy – he didn’t realize the river had made a four-flush!

It’s a distinction no one wants, and in Event #30, it fell to Tim Kasparoff – bubble boy. Kasparoff had gone all in after Tommy Hang had called from middle position and the two went heads up. This was a classic race situation with Kasparoff holding the under pair, eights, to the overcards of Hang, A-10. The ten on the turn put Hang squarely ahead and left Kasparoff dead to an eight. Sadly for him, no eight on the river meant no cash, and Kasparoff was out in 28th place. Alex Kravchenko was the immediate beneficiary, able to say he cashed in this event, if only in 27th place, for $20,492.

In one of many battles of the heavyweights, a short-stacked Dewey Tomko went all in against Hoyt Corkins. Corkins tabled while Tomko showed the powerhouse . The flop was decisive, , but Tomko had a glimmer of hope after an eight came on the turn. The seven on the river, though, sent Tomko to the rail in 23rd place.

Corkins’ surge was short-lived as he went all in against Aaron Katz with against Katz’ . Katz found a dream board of four diamonds to eliminate Corkins in 21st place. Todd Witteles was out soon after. His stack depleted at the hands of Michael Mizrachi, he went in against Chris Vitch for his remaining chips. After an A-J-8 flop, Vitch four-bet to put Witteles all in. Vitch was ahead with A-K to Witteles’ J-6. Witteles never improved and departed in 19th place. Tompkins, Corkins and Witteles each took home $20,492.

Michael Mizrachi had more than his fair share of bad luck in back-to-back-to back hands. First, his flopped set was toppled by the turned straight of Jerrod Ankenman. Then his A-K went up against the pocket kings of Cy Jassinowsky and lost. In this final hand, he and Chris Vitch had three-bet before the Q-5-2 flop, then checked. When the four turned, Mizrachi check-raised and Vitch re-reraised. Mizrachi moved all in and was quickly called. Mizrachi knew he was in trouble, “You have a set of queens, right?” Vitch nodded, showing the ladies, and Mizrachi just shook his head as he turned over pocket fours for the lower set. No four on the river and he was out in 15th place with $30,738.

Eric Buchman started the day third in chips but was out just before the final table. After reraising Adam Katz preflop, Buchman got what he thought was a great flop – – which gave him a set of tens. After a series of bets, raises, and reraises – and some brief confusion about the size of Katz’ last bet – Katz announced he was betting blind on the turn to put Buchanan all in. Buchanan called and they turned over their hands, and Buchman saw that Katz was on the flush draw, which hit with the . Buchanan needed the board to pair on the river, but it blanked and he was out in tenth place with $35,861.

Join PokerNews.com for live reporting of the final table, beginning at 3pm Pacific Time on Tuesday.

pokernews.com

The selection committee that determines which players are invited to NBC’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship has determined some standards by which several players will earn automatic berths into the tournament. Recent success in major tournaments, including the World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, weighs heavily into the criteria.

The new guidelines will be used starting next year; the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship will mark the event’s fifth year. The 2008 tournament was
won by two-time runner-up Chris Ferguson and currently is airing Sundays on NBC. Previous champions include 2007 winner Paul Wasicka, Ted Forrest (2006) and Phil Hellmuth Jr. (2005).

This year’s field featured 11 world champions, six WPT players of the year and a total of 112 WSOP bracelets combined from the participants. The Heads-Up Championship qualifying criteria guarantees similarly strong fields for years to come.

Players who meet the following guidelines automatically earn a seat in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship:

● Previous five (5) National Heads-Up Poker Champions;
● Previous two (2) National Heads-Up runners-up;
● Previous year’s National Heads-Up semifinalists;
● Any player who cashes in the past four consecutive years of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship;
● Previous three (3) World Series of Poker Main Event champions;
● Reigning World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up;
● Beginning with the 2008 WSOP, multiple bracelet winners in the same year will receive an automatic invitation;
● Defending World Series of Poker Player of the Year;
● Defending World Series of Poker Heads-Up Champion;
● Defending World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Champion (must be 21 or older);
● Reigning World Poker Tour Player of the Year;
● Reigning Monte Carlo European Poker Tour Grand Final Champion (must be 21 or older);
● Reigning Card Player Magazine Player of the Year;
● Reigning BLUFF Magazine Player of the Year;
● Reigning All In Magazine Player of the Year;
● Online and NBC qualifiers;
● Host venue qualifiers (two).

The new format awards 27 guaranteed seats into the event, a number that could increase or decrease depending on whether any player qualifies in more than one category, and the number of players who win multiple bracelets at the WSOP.

Players who earn an automatic bid must still buy in to the tournament ($20,000), unless they win a seat through a qualifier. The National Heads-Up Poker Championship committee reserves the right to change policies at its discretion.
The 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship will continue to air Sundays May 4-18 on NBC. The May 18 show will be a three-hour finale.

pokernews.com

The charity event features Hellmuth, Williamson, other poker pros and celebrities. The $2,500 buy-in tournament kicks off with a reception at 7 p.m., with the cards in the air at 8:30 p.m. Players can rebuy until the first break, at which time an add-on will be available.

Proceeds from the tournament will benefit charities such as the international
Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre, which aids victims of floods and droughts, as well as the Health and Climate Foundation, an organization that works to eradicate malaria epidemics and other fatal diseases worldwide. What’s more, a portion of the proceeds will go to the Robby Albarado Foundation, a nonprofit that helps the homeless and financially less fortunate. The charities that will benefit are based in Louisville, KY and Africa.

Fifty percent of the buy-ins, rebuys and add-ons will go to the charities, while the other half will go to the player prize pool.

In what is sure to be a sight to behold, Hellmuth, an 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, will simultaneously play in and emcee the tournament. Williamson, a WSOP bracelet winner in Omaha, also will play.

“I’m really excited to be co-hosting this event with Robert Williamson III and to be supporting such an important cause,” Hellmuth said. “The climate is changing and the poor will be the hardest hit. Anything we can do to raise awareness of this issue and help save lives is important.”

For more information on the tournament or for those interested in donating to the charities, visit kentuckyderbypokerchampionship.org. Caesars Indiana is a short drive north or Louisville, Ky. The casino is running numerous satellites and freerolls for the Kentucky Derby Poker Championship throughout March and April. For more information, visit caesarsindiana.com.

pokernews.com

With the vast majority of the 64-player field made up of world-class players, there doesn’t appear to be an easy bracket. Join PokerNews.com’s live reporting today for what is bound to be exciting early-rounds action. The Hearts bracket will start at 10:15 am, with Diamonds at 1:15 pm, Clubs at 4:15 pm, and Spades at 6:45 pm.

Hearts:

Vanessa Rousso vs. Antonio Esfandiari
Shannon Elizabeth vs. Andy Bloch
Todd Brunson vs. Scott Fischman
Jamie Gold vs. Tom Kelly
Ted Forrest vs. Orel Hershiser
Allen Cunningham vs. Chad Brown
John Robert Bellande vs. Sam Grizzle
Paul Wasicka vs. Freddie Deeb

Diamonds:

Jason Alexander vs. Huck Seed
David Pham vs. Brian Townsend
Jennifer Tilly vs. Clonie Gowen
Daniel Negreanu vs. Michael Mizrachi
Barry Greenstein vs. Howard Lederer
David Benyamine vs. Jennifer Harman
Sam Farha vs. Doyle Brunson
Erick Lindgren vs. Eli Elezra

Clubs:

Jonathan Little vs. Erik Seidel
Patrik Antonius vs. Gabe Kaplan
Greg Raymer vs. Hooman Nikzad
Kenny Tran vs. Scott Clements
Mike Matusow vs. Joe Hachem
Tom Dwan vs. Phil Hellmuth
Tom Schneider vs. Gavin Smith
Chris Ferguson vs. John Juanda

Spades:

Don Cheadle vs. Gus Hansen
Scotty Nguyen vs. Bill Edler
Chris Moneymaker vs. Jerry Yang
David Singer vs. Phil Laak
Phil Ivey vs. Alisha Kunze
David Williams vs. Johnny Chan
Daniel Schreiber vs. TJ Cloutier
Annie Duke vs. JC Tran

pokernews.com

David Benyamine was the first player to make the money today when he defeated Barry Greenstein. After a series of pre-flop raises, all the chips went in the pot with Benyamine’s pocket tens
vying against Greenstein’s suited A-J. The board brought no help to Greenstein, who presented Benyamine with his signature bust-out gift, his book Ace on the River. With his defeat of Brian “sbrugby” Townsend, 1996 WSOP champion Huck Seed keeps his NBC Heads Up streak alive; he has cashed in all four annual events. Townsend met his demise when he called Seed’s check-raised all-in on a flop of T-7-5. Seed’s Q-T was in good shape against Townsend’s 6-5 and stayed that way as the board completed with 7-2.

Andy Bloch has been beating up on the women. Yesterday Bloch, a last-minute addition for the absent comedian Brad Garrett, eliminated actress Shannon Elizabeth. Today Vanessa Rousso ultimately fell to Bloch when she re-raised all-in on a board of holding for top pair and the nut flush draw. Bloch called with K-5 for two pair. A blank on the river moved Bloch into the sweet sixteen. Scott Fischman tied Huck Seed’s record of four cashes in the NBC Heads Up when he defeated 2006 WSOP Champion Jamie Gold. All the money went in pre-flop with Fischman’s A-4 vs. Gold’s K-J. The board missed them both and Fischman prevailed with ace high.

Former Major League pitcher Hershiser took an early lead against Allen Cunningham, but Cunningham battled back in two consecutive hands to take the lead. Hershiser is no stranger to performing under pressure and it wasn’t long before he regained the advantage. The boys got it all in pre-flop, Hershiser holding an A-T to Cunningham’s K-6. The board brought a ten for Hershiser and no help to Cunningham, who graciously added his signature to the baseball. Clonie Gowen was less lucky with her A-T all-in against Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. Mizrachi’s Q-J found a jack on the turn to send the last woman to the rail and himself into the sweet sixteen.

Two-time WSOP champion Doyle Brunson and Erick Lindgren were all in pre-flop on a race with Brunson’s pocket nines competing against Q-J. When the turn came, the board read 8-7-6-5 to give Brunson the straight and leaving Lindgren drawing dead. Freddy Deeb and Sam Grizzle battled it out the longest but finally terminated when Grizzle’s pocket kings couldn’t hold up against Deeb’s A-Q once an ace flopped. While Deeb moves on to the sweet sixteen, he is now on deck for Orel Hershiser in the next round.

Clubs and Spades Brackets:

A lot of people speculated that Phil Ivey wouldn’t be up for the NBC Heads Up championship after just winning the grueling LA Poker Classic. Instead, Ivey appears to be re-energized and demonstrated it by making quick work of two-time WSOP champion Johnny Chan. Chan and Ivey were all in on a J-9-3 flop; Ivey had the upper hand with K-J to Chan’s Q-9. The turn and river came 5-T and for the first time since the event’s inception, Ivey advanced to the money. In Round One, Gavin Smith was 6-for-6 winning hands where he was the underdog. The seventh time proved his undoing when his K-8 couldn’t catch up to Chris Ferguson’s pocket fours.

We lost our last player with acting creds when Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little called Gabe Kaplan’s all-in pre-flop bet; Little held A-8 to Kaplan’s J-4. The board delivered Q-3-4-8-K, giving Little the higher pair, and sending Kaplan off. “I can’t lay down two eights this time, baby,” said Scotty Nguyen to his second-round opponent, Gus Hansen, before calling Gus’ pre-flop all in bet. Hansen tabled K-9 and the race was on. At the turn, the board read to give the spade-less Hansen a higher pair and Nguyen, who held the , an embarrassment of outs. No outs came for Nguyen and Hansen advanced to the next round.

In Round One, Tom “durrrr” Dwan eliminated Phil Hellmuth on a decidedly bad beat when his pocket tens ultimately cracked Hellmuth’s pocket aces. Matusow, who was required to change into more politically correct attire prior to the match, may have had the extra motivation of avenging his friend’s bad beat when he faced off against Dwan. Whatever his motivation, Matusow successfully put away Dwan when his A-5 held up against Dwan’s K-T. 2007 WSOP champion Jerry Yang, holding K-8, re-raised Phil Laak all in pre-flop. Laak called with pocket nines and spiked a set on the flop to ensure his sweet sixteen appearance.

JC Tran prevailed over TJ Cloutier when his pocket fours held up against Cloutier’s A-4. The last match of the day saw 2004 WSOP champion Greg Raymer prevail against Scott Clements. Short-stacked, Clements pushed in with an A-6, only to run into Raymer’s A-J. The board brought an ace, but no salvation for Clements.

Sweet Sixteen Match-Ups

Andy Bloch vs. Scott Fischman
Orel Hershiser vs. Freddy Deeb
Huck Seed vs. Michael Mizrachi
David Benyamine vs. Doyle Brunson
Jonathan Little vs Greg Raymer
Mike Matusow vs. Chris Ferguson
Gus Hansen vs. Phil Laak
Phil Ivey vs. JC Tran

pokernews.com

Last year’s runner-up in this event was this year’s first casualty when Chad Brown ran into Allen Cunningham’s flush. In a day that was
particularly cruel to the Hollywood set, Brown’s acting credentials may have been a handicap. Within minutes of Brown’s elimination, last year’s champion, Paul Wasicka also made his exit at the hands of Freddy Deeb. Holding pocket tens, Wasicka led out on a flop of 8-8-5 and Deeb made the call. Wasicka pushed all-in when a jack fell on the turn and Deeb called, showing A-J. The river brought another jack for Deeb and salt in the wound for the fallen Wasicka.

Jamie Gold, in perhaps the day’s oddest series of hands, eliminated Caesar’s Palace qualifier Tom Kelly. Kelly went all in pre-flop and Jamie Gold folded pocket queens face up. People were still buzzing about Gold’s potential folly when Gold pushed all-in on the very next hand. Gold showed Kelly one card (allowable under the tournament’s rules); it was an ace. Kelly called with A-K only to discover that Gold had not one, but two, aces, which held up. Gold finished up the job in a subsequent hand. Scott Fischman is one of only three players to have cashed in every one of the past NBC Heads Up events. Fischman gave himself a chance for four when he eliminated Todd Brunson. Fischman had Brunson outchipped about 3-to-1 when he called Todd’s pre-flop all in with pocket deuces. Brunson’s K-9 was a slight underdog, but degraded quickly when the flop delivered a set for Fischman.

Orel Hershiser is a heads-up specialist; granted most of his mano y mano confrontations have been against major league batters. On the felt, Hershiser never got behind in the count and kept 2006 National Heads-Up champion Ted Forrest at a chip disadvantage throughout the match. Forrest fouled off a few to stay in the game, but Hershiser got the K when his pocket sixes held up against Forrest’s suited A-5. Andy Bloch was a last-minute substitution when invited comedian/actor Brad Garrett had to return to work after the resolution of the Hollywood writer’s strike. Bloch and actress Shannon Elizabeth seesawed through the match. Elizabeth, a “Dancing with the Stars” contestant, made the quarterfinals in last year’s event, but eventually succumbed when her good draw on a flop went bad.

If this was a match based on charm, it might have been a draw between Sam Grizzle and former “Survivor” contestant Jean-Robert Bellande. Luckily for Grizzle, it only took two pair. Vanessa Rousso bested her fiancé Chad Brown’s performance when she defeated Antonio Esfandiari. Rousso crippled Esfandiari when her overpair held up against his flopped top pair. Rousso finished Esfandiari off with a nut flush.

Round Two Hearts Bracket Match-Ups:

Vanessa Rousso vs. Andy Bloch
Scott Fischman vs. Jamie Gold
Orel Hershiser vs. Allen Cunningham
Freddy Deeb vs. Sam Grizzle

Diamonds Bracket

“I may lose, but I’m sexy as hell,” said actor Jason Alexander as he flipped over his , all in pre-flop against Huck Seed’s . The flop of looked bad for Alexander, but the turn brought the and a plethora of outs. Alexander got up behind the dealer and started giving him a shoulder massage in the hopes it would coax out a seven, ten, or spade. The fell and so did Jason Alexander. Sammy Farha and Doyle Brunson wasted no time, jousting with all-in bets. They found one they both liked in relatively short order when Farha woke up with A-Q vs. Brunson’s dominated K-Q. A fortune-reversing king hit the board and Brunson advanced.

Jennifer Tilly got the early lead on Clonie Gowen, but eventually the actor’s curse kicked in. In their final altercation, Tilly pushed all-in with a flopped straight and Gowen called with a flush draw. Gowen’s suited 2-3 caught the flush on the river and dismissed Tilly. David “The Dragon” Pham was in good shape when he pushed in with pocket nines against Brian “sbrugby” Townsend’s T-9 until the board brought two tens and no salvation for Pham.

All-in pre-flop, Michael Mizrachi’s Q-T held up against Daniel Negreanu’s Q-4 and propelled “The Grinder” to the next round. David Benyamine also advanced when his A-9 held up against Jennifer Harman’s 9-8. Harman flopped a straight draw that never delivered. Howard Lederer hung on with a short stack for a long time but was finally defeated by Barry Greenstein. In the longest match of the bracket, Erick Lindgren finally put away Eli Elezra with a flush.

Round Two Diamonds Bracket Match-Ups:

Huck Seed vs. Brian Townsend
Clonie Gowen vs. Michael Mizrachi
Barry Greenstein vs. David Benyamine
Doyle Brunson vs. Erick Lindgren

Clubs Bracket

Without a doubt, the most stunning bad beat of the evening ousted former WSOP Champion and 2005 NBC Heads-Up champion Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth insta-called Tom “durrrr” Dwan’s pre-flop all in raise; Hellmuth had vs. Dwan’s . The flop came . When the dealer flipped over the on the turn, the crowd erupted. Hellmuth’s hopes of the flush or an ace were dashed with the river.

Gabe “Welcome Back Kotter” Kaplan was the only player with acting credentials to advance when his A-5 caught an ace on the board to oust Patrik Antonius and his poker twos. Former WSOP champion Greg Raymer eliminated Caesar’s qualifier Hooman Nikmad when he pushed all-in with pocket sevens on a jack-high flop. Nikad’s pair of jacks looked good until another seven fell on the turn. Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little battled back to advance against Erik Seidel. Little was short stacked but pulled back to even when the board four flushed in his favor against Seidel’s pocket nines. Little finally prevailed when his pocket fours held up against Seidel’s A-9.

Kenny Tran and Scott Clements saw a lot of swings in their match, but Tran’s run finally came to an end when his A-7 couldn’t overcome Scott Clements’ A-K. Gavin Smith gained a significant chip advantage when his 7-8 went all-in against Tom Schneider’s pocket queens. Smith called for a miracle and got one in the form of an eight high straight. Schneider subsequently took his pocket nines against Smith’s Q-T, but a ten on the board sent Schneider home.

2005 WSOP Champion Joe Hachem hit a six-outer to cripple Mike Matusow in the early going, but it was Matusow who advanced to the second round. In honor of their match, Mike was wearing a bright yellow T-shirt with a kangaroo on it, waved a miniature Australian flag and occasionally chanted “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!” On their final hand, Hachem raised Matusow all-in on a flop of T-2-3. Matusow called, showing J-T vs. Hachem’s T-4. The rest of the board delivered an ace and a jack, giving Matusow two pair and the match. The longest match of the Diamonds bracket was that between John Juanda and Chris Ferguson, with Ferguson maintaining the edge for the majority of the match. Ferguson was the NBC Heads-Up runner-up in 2005 and 2006 and with his eventual defeat of Juanda gets yet another shot at the title this year.

Round Two Clubs Bracket Match-Ups:

Jonathan Little vs. Gabe Kaplan
Greg Raymer vs. Scott Clements
Mike Matusow vs Tom Dwan
Gavin Smith vs Chris Ferguson

Spades Bracket

2007 WSOP Champion Jerry Yang caught a two-outer to defeat 2003 WSOP Champion Chris Moneymaker. Yang opened pre-flop, triggering a succession of re-raises until the players were all in. Yang’s pocket fours were in trouble against Moneymaker’s pocket tens – that is, until he caught another four on the river. 1997 WSOP Champion Scotty Nguyen was able to advance when he hit a higher flush than that of Bill Edler. This is the first year since the event’s inception that Nguyen has made it past the first round.

PokerStars qualifier Alisha Kunze was hoping that Phil Ivey’s $1.6 million victory in the LA Poker Classic this week would find him a little tired and less hungry for the win. But Ivey seemed content to play the rush, eliminating Kunze when his J-9 hit two pair against her short-stacked pocket sevens. David Singer got all his money in on the turn with two pair, only to discover that Phil Laak would advance with a flush.

Don Cheadle is an Academy Award-nominated actor, which in this field spelled trouble. Cheadle’s trouble finally came when he got his pocket jacks all in against Gus Hansen’s K-J. Needless to say, the board delivered a king for Hansen and brought down the curtain on Cheadle. While it wasn’t a good day for actors, it was an equally bad day for former heads-up champions. All three NBC Heads-Up champs had already fallen by the time WSOP Heads-Up Champion Dan Schreiber squared off against TJ Cloutier. It looked like Schreiber was going to escape the heads-up champions’ curse when his was all-in against Cloutier’s , until Cloutier caught a five on the board to advance.

David Williams found himself all-in with A-9 against two-time WSOP Champion Johnny Chan’s pocket jacks. Williams was only able to catch a nine on the board which wasn’t good enough to keep him in the match. A short-stacked Annie Duke pushed her remaining chips in with T-6 only to have JC Tran call her in the dark with a dominating T-9. Tran caught both a ten and a nine on the board to advance to the next round.

Round Two Spades Bracket Match-Ups:

Gus Hansen vs. Scotty Nguyen
Jerry Yang vs. Phil Laak
Phil Ivey vs. Johnny Chan
TJ Cloutier vs. JC Tran

Join PokerNews.com for today’s live coverage of Round Two of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship starting at 11:30 am local time.

pokernews.com

Huck Seed was the first player to advance into the semifinal round when David Benyamine, believing his pocket nines were good, moved all in on a board of 2-3-7-3-5. Seed, however, called with pocket twos for the boat. In 2006, Seed advanced to the NBC Heads-Up semifinals but was then defeated by Chris Ferguson.

Understandably, the feature table for the Hearts and Diamonds bracket hosted the match between Orel Hershiser and Andy Bloch. Bloch was able to gain a sizable advantage in the early going, but Hershiser pulled ahead when his all in with A-5 bested Bloch’s Q-J. The crowd erupted on the A-Q-8 flop. Although Hershiser was ahead, any queen or jack would give Bloch the edge. Bloch was also quick to point out, “A ten on the turn gives me a lot of outs.” The rest of the board filled in with running sixes and the game resumed. They seesawed back and forth until Bloch was finally able to put an end to Hershiser’s run. Bloch raised all in pre-flop with A-9 and got called by Hershiser with J-T. The board of 9-7-6-6-2 gave Bloch unneeded assistance and Hershiser signed his ball over to Bloch. While I’m sure there are many that have autographed baseballs by Hershiser, the provenance of this particular ball has to be the envy of any collector.

Perhaps the most intense quarterfinal battle was that between Chris Ferguson and Jonathan Little. Ferguson had advanced to the semifinal round in two out of the last three NBC Heads-Up events. This was Little’s first appearance in this event. It looked like an upset in the making when Little got off to an early lead and continued to extend it to a 6-to-1 advantage. Ferguson battled back, managing to execute two double-ups. The first double-up found Little with the against Ferguson’s . The flop gave both players the gutshot draw to a jack, but Ferguson’s would be the higher of the two potential straights. A paired Ferguson but gave Little the flush draw. The on the river pushed the pot to Ferguson. Ferguson’s pocket nines held against Little’s pocket fours for the subsequent double-up. Finally, at a slight chip disadvantage, Little pushed with a suited T-7 only to run into Ferguson’s pocket nines, which held for the win.

Phil Ivey had been chipping away at Gus Hansen for much of their match, gaining about a 2-to-1 chip lead. Hansen shoved all his chips in the middle on a flop, only to have Ivey call and flip over . Hanson grimaced as he turned over with only a runner-runner straight flush hope for survival. An on the turn left Hansen drawing dead and sent Ivey into the semis.

Semifinals

Off to a slow start, Chris Ferguson was able to eek out a slight advantage against Phil Ivey. About forty minutes into their match, Ivey pushed all in on a board of . Ferguson went into the tank for well over a minute but subsequently called with pocket eights; Ivey turned over pocket sixes. Ivey had outs to a set and straight but the fell, sending Ferguson to the semifinals for an unprecedented third time.

An hour into their match, Andy Bloch and Huck Seed were still virtually neck and neck. Bloch was finally able to get an edge on Seed before their final hand, where Bloch pushed all in with A-Q and got called by Seed with pocket nines. Bloch had to wait until the river for the ace that would send him through to the finals.

The finals between Chris Ferguson and Andy Bloch have begun as this report runs. Coincidently, back in the late 1990′s Bloch and Ferguson discovered that they had run the same computer simulations to determine a rank of hands for heads-up play.

pokernews.com

Quarterfinal winners will be placed onto regional teams of seven players each. The semifinalists will win complete travel packages (hotel accommodations, airfare and meals) to a live venue, to be announced at a later date, where the semifinal and final rounds will take place. The finals will be scored both individually and as a team.

To qualify for the Duplicate Poker World Championship, players must place in the top six of the weekly DuplicatePoker Tournament Leader Board during one of the qualifying weeks. Qualifications begin anew each week.

More details on the Duplicate Poker World Championship are available at www.duplicatepoker.com/Teams.aspx. The site also offers a short, interactive video tutorial explaining the Duplicate Poker format. DuplicatePoker.com also offers both play-money and real-money games.

pokernews.com

With the majority of the field set, it is apparent that one of the dynamics at play will be pitting some of the biggest and established names in poker against some of poker’s young up-and-comers. Almost every World Series of Poker champion in recent history has been invited, including 2007 WSOP winner Jerry Yang; only former WSOP champ Carlos Mortensen appears to among
the missing. All the 2007 Player of the Year recipients will be represented: David Pham (Card Player), J.C. Tran (All In), Bill Edler (Bluff), and Tom Schneider (WSOP).

NBC has also given a decided nod to “new school” of poker by inviting a number of younger players, most of whom honed their skills online. Representing the online rounders will be 2007 Heads-Up World Series of Poker bracelet winner Daniel ‘rekrul’ Schreiber, Brian ‘sbrugby’ Townsend, Jonathan ‘FieryJustice’ Little, Scott ‘BigRiskky’ Clements, and Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan.

NBC always has a short list of celebrities adding spice to the field and this year is no different. Comic actors Brad Garrett and Jason Alexander have both made appearances at the WSOP and will be battling on the heads-up felt here. Academy Award nominee and “Ante Up for Africa” organizer Don Cheadle will be present as well. And although his “Welcome Back, Kotter” roots will be how most casual viewers remember him, we know invitee Gabe Kaplan as the acclaimed host/commentator of “High Stakes Poker.” Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth will also be returning this year. While some might find Orel Hershiser’s name a surprising add, the Las Vegas resident is no stranger to the felt. Hershiser played in the WPT Invitational at the Commerce last year and has been known to partake in the $30/60 game at the Bellagio.

Each of this year’s players will put up a $20,000 buy-in for a shot at the $500,000 first-place prize. The field will be capped at 64 players, comprised of 60 invitees and four special qualifiers; those four have yet to be determined. The event will begin with a drawing party at the Pure nightclub inside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on February 28, 2008, with the tournament taking place the following three days. The NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship debuted in 2005 as replacement programming during the NHL lockout. The format was a surprising success and the event has continued to pull in poker’s highest television ratings. With the announcement of the 2008 invitees, it looks like another great year for the event. Replacements for any invitee not able to attend will be announced at a later date.

The total list of invitees follows:

1. Alexander, Jason
2. Antonius, Patrik
3. Bellande, Jean-Robert
4. Benyamine, David
5. Brown, Chad
6. Brunson, Doyle
7. Brunson, Todd
8. Chan, Johnny
9. Cheadle, Don
10. Clements, Scott
11. Cloutier, T.J.
12. Cunningham, Allen
13. Deeb, Freddy
14. Duke, Annie
15. Dwan, Tom
16. Edler, Bill
17. Elezra, Eli
18. Elizabeth, Shannon
19. Esfandiari, Antonio
20. Farha, Sam
21. Ferguson, Chris
22. Fischman, Scott
23. Forrest, Ted
24. Garrett, Brad
25. Gold, Jamie
26. Gowen, Clonie
27. Greenstein, Barry
28. Grizzle, Sam
29. Hachem, Joe
30. Hansen, Gus
31. Harman, Jennifer
32. Hellmuth, Phil
33. Hershiser, Orel
34. Ivey, Phil
35. Juanda, John
36. Kaplan, Gabe
37. Laak, Phil
38. Lederer, Howard
39. Lindgren, Erick
40. Little, Jonathan
41. Matusow, Mike
42. Mizrachi, Michael
43. Negreanu, Daniel
44. Nguyen, Scotty
45. Pham, David
46. Raymer, Greg
47. Rousso, Vanessa
48. Schneider, Tom
49. Schreiber, Daniel
50. Seed, Huck
51. Seidel, Erik
52. Singer, David
53. Smith, Gavin
54. Tilly, Jennifer
55. Townsend, Brian
56. Tran, J.C.
57. Tran, Kenny
58. Wasicka, Paul
59. Williams, David
60. Yang, Jerry

pokernews.com