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NBC Heads Up!
Next weekend’s second annual National Heads Up Poker Championship, to be
conducted at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas from March 3rd to the 6th, is
almost set in who will be participating. The tournament will bring together
61 of the best poker players in the world as well as three wild card entries
that may provide some upsets in one of the most well known titles in poker.
So far, the last four players of last year’s tournament; Phil Hellmuth, last
year’s champion, runner up Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Antonio Esfandiari, and
T.J. Cloutier, will all attempt to repeat a showing at the final table. The
odds are against them, however, as some of the most reputable players in the
field will be making up the rest of the competition, including Michael “The
Grinder” Mizrachi (2006 Poker Player of the Year leader), Annie Duke, Doyle
Brunson, Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Ted Forrest, Barry Greenstein, and 2005
Poker Player of the Year Men “The Master” Nguyen.
The finalists were determined weeks ago by an online competition at the
official website of the tournament, nbcheadsup.com. Two players will be
chosen from satellite events at Caesar’s Palace, and they will round out the
64 player field.
Last year’s defending champion, Hellmuth states that he is confident he can
defend the title in this year’s sophomore tourney.
“My chances of winning are realistic. There are many great players in the
tournament so far, but all I have to do is win six times. Certainly there
can be no doubt that I am the pre-tournament favorite.”
Hellmuth won $500,000 for coming in first place last year.
64 players are divided into groups of 16 players each, drawn up on Friday
morning. The actual playing begins Saturday morning and will continue
through to Monday, when a best two out of three match will determine the
winner. The tournament is to be taped by NBC, for broadcast on six
consecutive Sundays starting on April 16 and ending in May at the
championship showdown,
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