Popular Pages

Poker Tools

Poker Directory

Live Tournaments

Poker News

Read More

Subscribe

Subscribe to PokerListings.com news feed:

Online Bonus

  1. Exclusive $1,500 cash freeroll at Hollywood Poker
    Read More

Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008

Players face off Friday in NHUPC

Mike Matusow
Can The Mouth quiet his tilting ways to take home a National Heads-Up Poker Championship title?

By Jason Kirk

This Friday, for the fourth straight year, Caesars Palace opens its tournament room to the world's best poker players - and the cameras of NBC - for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

The NHUPC is the granddaddy of all made-for-television poker tournaments. The heads-up format allows for the players' personalities to shine through, and the one-on-one drama matches that of any other televised sporting event. Then there's the money: whoever wins takes home $500,000.

The first-round brackets won't be determined until the draw party at Pure nightclub in Caesars Palace later tonight. The entrants for the tournament, however, have already been confirmed.

As usual, the field is composed mostly of world-class professional poker players and others who have won major tournaments. Eleven former WSOP Main Event champions, including 2005 NHUPC winner Phil Hellmuth, will compete this year. They'll be joined by five players who have finished runner-up at the WSOP Main Event, including Paul Wasicka, the defending NHUPC champion.

Players who had incredible success in 2007 will be well-represented this weekend. WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider will get a chance to spotlight his skills, as will all three players who won Player of the Year plaudits from major poker publications last year: David "The Dragon" Pham, Bill Edler and J.C. Tran.

The NBC event has always had a celebrity factor, and this year is no exception. Actor Don Cheadle, former WSOP women's event champ Jennifer Tilly, High Stakes Poker co-host Gabe Kaplan and 2007 NHUPC semifinalist Shannon Elizabeth all return for another crack at the tournament, while ex-Seinfeld star Jason Alexander and former Los Angeles Dodger Orel Hershiser get to try their hands for the first time.

This year's field will feature a number of younger players known as much for their online play as their live success. Jonathan "FieryJustice" Little, Brian "sbrugby" Townsend, Daniel "Rekrul" Schreiber, Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Scott "BigRiskky" Clements will all make their NHUPC debuts on Friday at Caesars Palace.

Thanks to a few seats set aside for qualifiers, three other players will join the world's best at the NHUPC. Two players - business owner Hooman Nikzad and former Wall Street executive Tom Kelly - won their seats through satellites held at Caesars Palace. Alisha Kunze, a 23-year-old nursing student from Greensburg, Ind., won the final seat through a free promotion on PokerStars.net.

NBC will air the first two-hour installment of its tournament coverage on Sunday, April 13, at 12 p.m. (EDT), and subsequent episodes will air each of the next five Sundays.

In alphabetical order, here are this year's competitors, followed by the prize pool breakdown.

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

First place: $500,000

Second place: $250,000

Third & fourth place: $125,000

Fifth - eighth place: $75,000

Ninth - 16th place: $25,000

PokerListings.com will be live on the scene as well once the cards hit the felt to bring you live updates, reports, interviews, photos and more from the NHUPC. Check it out in the Live Tournaments section.

Article Tools

More News

News Archives