NBC Heads-Up Championship 2009
If you are a poker fan, you no doubt have witnessed the National Heads-Up Poker Championship on television. This prestigious tournament features a who's who of the top players in the world. Much like college basketball's March Madness tournament, the Heads Up tournament begins with 64 players who compete in heads up matches until a final winner is left standing. Historically, this has been an invitation only event but this year, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars will be giving away 5 seats to this event.
The list of participants is truly an exclusive club. The past five NBC Heads-Up champions are automatically awarded bids, as are the last 3 World Series of Poker Main Event Champions. Also given seats are this years WSOP main event runner up, the WSOP Player of the Year and the Card Player Magazine Player of the year. The lineup truly boasts the best of the best.
Dates of Heads Up Championship and TV Air Dates
The actual live Heads Up Championship takes place March 6 - 8, 2009 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.
NBC will air the tournament live on television on these dates and times:
April 12: Noon - 2PM EST April 19: Noon - 1PM EST April 26: Noon - 2PM EST May 3: Noon - 2PM EST May 10: Noon - 2PM EST May 17: Noon - 3PM EST
Online Poker Sites Offering Freerolls to NBC Heads-Up Championship
Now, in conjunction with Caesar's Palace, the two top online poker sites will be sending a total of five members to play in the classic event, absolutely free. They will be offering freerolls to gain entry to the event. On February 22nd at 11AM, Caesars will run its freeroll and to qualify, all a player needs to do is play poker at the casino for 40 hours during the month of January. Qualifying players will compete in a multi-table tournament until there are 64 players remaining. At that point, remaining players will compete in heads up poker matches just like the NBC event. The top 32 will get a cash payout and the winner is entered into the NBC event. The second seat given away by Caesar's has been awarded to a high roller.
PokerStars Freeroll to the NBC Heads Up Championship
PokerStars will be hosting a championship freeroll as well on February 22nd. Preliminary tournaments have been underway since December 20th. In the preliminary events, the top 200 finishers advance to a Round 2 tournament in which the top 56 move on to the big final. The top 2 finalists will win their seats on the NBC show.
Full Tilt Freeroll to NBC Heads Up Championship
Full Tilt Poker's format is similar to the one held by PokerStars though one seat was awarded on January 4th in a freeroll. They are holding Round 1 heads-up shootouts and weekly Round 2 freerolls. Like the other two venues, their championship for the remaining seat is on February 22nd.
Source: www.aintluck.com
