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Day One of the National Heads-Up Poker Championships
The first day of the National Heads-Up Poker Championships came to a close
yesterday, and there were some huge upsets for some of the professional
players in the first round.
Players started with $20,000 in chips, with blinds at $100-200. Rounds were
scheduled to last fifteen minutes with no breaks, and the play was akin to a
satellite competition, with the dealer keeping time along with a clock at
each table.
The celebrities went down early, as Jennifer Tilly was defeated by Paul Phillips
and James Woods was actually the first casualty of the day, despite his pairings
tauntings of the opponent he drew, Scott Fischman.
Erick Lindgren beat Steve Glasner with a flush draw, and Mike Caro took out Tony
G. Cindy Violette was eliminated by Barry Greenstein, and Daniel Negreanu
defeated tournament sweetheart and ex Evelyn Ng. Layne Flack was eliminated by
Greg Raymer, and David Grey took out Lyle Berman.
The true stories of the night were the big games that featured some of the
favorites of the poker world going head to head, and there were a couple of big
surprises. Last year’s champion, Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth, was defeated by
David “Chips” Reese for the second time in a month and was out of the
tournament. Reese ousted the phlegmatic Hellmuth with pocket tens, although the
Poker Brat did not indulge in his attention grabbing antics.
Pre tourney favorite Phil Ivey was also eliminated by Chad Brown, who was fresh
off a top five finish in last week’s Shooting Stars Championship in San Jose.
One of the biggest surprises of the tournament was Ernie Durreck taking out
Cardplayer magazine’s poker player of the year in 2005 Scotty Nguyen. Johnny
Chan was sent packing by Carlos Mortenson, and Doyle Brunson advanced himself in
a lucky break against John Juanda.
The tournament will continue on Sunday, with the field now down to 32
contestants. The tournament is off to a surprising and action packed start.
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