NBC’s Heads-Up Poker Championship Field Set
The field for the 6th annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship presented by GoDaddy.com, the world's largest domain name registrar, is flush with a who's who of the poker world, including a dozen World Series of Poker Main Event champions, top all-time money winners, online studs, and Academy Award nominees. Poker's most prestigious heads up tournament brings 64 of the best poker players in the world to the Caesars Palace Poker Tournament Room to compete in its distinctive, bracket-style head-to-head format for $1.5 million in combined prize money. The event will be taped for broadcast on NBC over six consecutive Sundays in April and May. The first round opponents for the brackets will be chosen at random during the GoDaddy.com Draw Party held at PURE Nightclub at Caesars Palace on Thursday, March 4. The competition begins Friday, March 5 and continues through Sunday, March 7.
"The lineup of competitors for this year's event is the best yet," said Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports. "Continually bringing together the best of the best to compete in this unique format has made the National Heads-Up Poker Championship one of the most anticipated poker events of the year."
"We'll of course be rooting for our Go Daddy Girl Vanessa Rousso," said Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. "Vanessa is ready for another great run at this year's 2010 Heads up tournament. She'll definitely bring her 'A' game given the fierce competition."
The entire field (alphabetical order):
Patrick Antonius
Eric Baldwin
Andy Bloch
Doyle Brunson
Joe Cada
Johnny Chan
Don Cheadle
Allen Cunningham
Pieter De-Korver
Annie Duke
Tom Dwan
Peter Eastgate
Eli Elezra
Antonio Esfandiari
Sam Farha
Chris Ferguson
Ted Forrest
Jamie Gold
Phil Gordon
Barry Greenstein
Bertrand Grospellier
Joe Hachem
Gus Hansen
Jennifer Harman
Phil Hellmuth
Orel Hershiser
Jesper Hougaard
Phil Ivey
John Juanda
Gabe Kaplan
John Paul Kelly
Phil Laak
Howard Lederer
Erick Lindgren
Mike Matusow
Jason Mercier
Dario Minieri
Chris Moneymaker
Darvin Moon
Greg Mueller
Daniel Negreanu
Scotty Nguyen
Annette Obrestad
Brock Parker
Dennis Phillips
Greg Raymer
Vanessa Rousso
Kara Scott
Huck Seed
Erik Seidel
Mike Sexton
Gavin Smith
Jennifer Tilly
Paul Wasicka
David Williams
Leo Wolpert
Jerry Yang
ONLINE QUALIFIERS (7)
The National Heads-Up Poker Championship features 64 top poker players competing in a series of heads-up (one-on-one matches of No Limit Texas Hold'em) matches to determine the best heads-up poker player in the world. This tournament has a unique, single-elimination, bracket-style format modeled after college basketball's championship tournament, except that the finals are the best of three. The first-place finisher receives $500,000, with second-place taking home $250,000. The viewing gallery at the Caesars Palace Poker Tournament Room is open to guests on a first-come, first-served basis.
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NBC's television coverage: April 18 - Noon - 1PM ET/9:00-10:00 AM PT April 25 - Noon - 2PM ET/9:00-11:00AM PT May 2 - Noon - 2PM ET/9:00-11:00 AM PT May 9 - Noon - 2PM ET/9:00-11:00 AM PT May 16 - Noon - 2PM ET/9:00-11:00 AM PT May 23 - Noon - 3PM ET/9:00-Noon AM PT
