National Heads-Up Poker Championship

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The National Heads-Up Poker Championship is an annual poker tournament held in the United States. It features 64 poker players playing a series of one-on-one no limit hold'em matches until one player is left and crowned the National Heads-Up Poker Champion.

The idea for the tournament was spawned from the success of the World Heads-Up Poker Championship, held annually in Barcelona, although only one World Headsup Champion ("Miami" John Cernuto) has competed in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship to date. The National Heads-Up Poker Championship is an invitation-only event. In contrast, the World Headsup Poker Championship is an open event with a maximum participation of 128 players.

The program's debut was conceived as NBC's NHL Lockout Replacement programming in 2005 after the network had lost an entire season because of the lockout, and was looking for replacement programming on weekends to fill up time, and to take advantage of the trend in poker programming.

The 2005 event took place at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas between March 4 and March 6. It aired weekly on NBC from May 1 to May 22 with commentary from Gabe Kaplan and Matt Vasgersian.

The 2006 edition took place from March 4 to 6 at Harrah's Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. NBC began its coverage by broadcasting one part of the round of 64 on April 16, 2006. The semi-final and championship matches aired May 21, 2006. Kaplan and Vasgersian returned as commentators.

The 2007 edition will be broadcasted from April 8, 2007 to May 20, 2007.

[edit] 2005

[edit] Round 1 matches

Sam Farha defeats Prahlad Friedman
Hasan Habib defeats Phil Gordon
Mimi Tran defeats Tom McEvoy
Gus Hansen defeats Curtis Bibb
Billy Baxter defeats Doyle Brunson
Mike Sexton defeats Yoshio Nakano
Josh Arieh defeats Rene Angelil
Chris Ferguson defeats Cyndy Violette
Evelyn Ng defeats Bobby Baldwin
Huck Seed defeats David Pham
Paul Phillips defeats Dewey Tomko
Jennifer Harman defeats David Grey
Lyle Berman defeats Kassem "Freddy" Deeb
Phil Hellmuth Jr defeats Men Nguyen
T. J. Cloutier defeats Nick Frangos
Daniel Negreanu defeats Jerry Buss
Juan Carlos Mortensen defeats David Williams
John Hennigan defeats Layne Flack
John Juanda defeats Chau Giang
Barry Greenstein defeats Lee Salem
Amir Vahedi defeats John Myung
Erick Lindgren defeats Todd Brunson
Henry Orenstein defeats David "Chip" Reese
Mike Caro defeats Scotty Nguyen
Scott Fischman defeats Annie Duke
Chris Moneymaker defeats Eli Elezra
Ted Forrest defeats John Cernuto
Antonio Esfandiari defeats Howard Lederer
David Sklansky defeats Phil Ivey
Greg Raymer defeats Kathy Liebert
Johnny Chan defeats James Woods
Dennis Wager defeats Erik Seidel

[edit] Round 2 matches

John Hennigan defeats Henry Orenstein
Antonio Esfandiari defeats Daniel Negreanu
Scott Fischman defeats Dennis Wager
Ted Forrest defeats Josh Arieh
T. J. Cloutier defeats Mike Caro
John Juanda defeats Amir Vahedi
Barry Greenstein defeats Billy Baxter
Juan Carlos Mortensen defeats Evelyn Ng
David Sklansky defeats Johnny Chan
Lyle Berman defeats Jennifer Harman
Huck Seed defeats Greg Raymer
Phil Hellmuth Jr defeats Paul Phillips
Mimi Tran defeats Chris Moneymaker
Mike Sexton defeats Erick Lindgren
Hasan Habib defeats Sam Farha
Chris Ferguson defeats Gus Hansen

[edit] Round 3 matches

Players eliminated at this stage received $25,000 prize money.

T. J. Cloutier defeats John Hennigan
Chris Ferguson defeats Mimi Tran
Antonio Esfandiari defeats Ted Forrest
Lyle Berman defeats Carlos Mortensen
John Juanda defeats Barry Greenstein
Scott Fischman defeats David Sklansky
Mike Sexton defeats Hasan Habib
Phil Hellmuth Jr defeats Huck Seed

[edit] Quarter-final matches

Players eliminated at this stage received $75,000 prize money.

Antonio Esfandiari defeats Scott Fischman
Phil Hellmuth Jr defeats Lyle Berman
Chris Ferguson defeats Mike Sexton
T. J. Cloutier defeats John Juanda

[edit] Semi-final matches

Players eliminated at this stage received $125,000 prize money.

Phil Hellmuth Jr defeats Antonio Esfandiari
Chris Ferguson defeats T. J. Cloutier

[edit] Grand final match

The winner received $500,000 and the runner-up received $250,000.

Phil Hellmuth Jr defeats Chris Ferguson 2-1

[edit] 2006

[edit] Round 1 matches

Scott Fischman defeats James Woods
Erick Lindgren defeats Steven Glassner
Barry Greenstein defeats Cyndy Violette
Mike Caro defeats Tony G
Tuan Le defeats Chris Moneymaker
Huck Seed defeats David Oppenheim
Dee Luong defeats Men Nguyen
Amir Vahedi defeats Jerry Buss
Shahram Sheikhan defeats Gus Hansen
Daniel Negreanu defeats Evelyn Ng
Juan Carlos Mortensen defeats Johnny Chan
T. J. Cloutier defeats Jeff Shulman
Phil Laak defeats Gavin Smith
Doyle Brunson defeats John Juanda
Greg Raymer defeats Layne Flack
David Grey defeats Lyle Berman
Barry Shulman defeats Antonio Esfandiari
Ted Forrest defeats Erik Seidel
Paul Phillips defeats Jennifer Tilly
Howard Lederer defeats Allen Cunningham
Ernie Dureck defeats Scotty Nguyen
Chad Brown defeats Phil Ivey
Michael Mizrachi defeats Mark Seif
Josh Arieh defeats David Williams
Sam Farha defeats Rene Angelil
Dan Harrington defeats Todd Brunson
Eli Elezra defeats Mike Matusow
Chris Ferguson defeats Kassem "Freddy" Deeb
Mike Sexton defeats Annie Duke
David Chesnoff defeats Bobby Baldwin
David "Chip" Reese defeats Phil Hellmuth Jr
James McManus defeats Josh Lochner

[edit] Round 2 Matches

Barry Greenstein defeats Tuan Le
Josh Arieh defeats Eli Elezra
Amir Vahedi defeats Mike Caro
James McManus defeats Mike Sexton
Scott Fischman defeats Dee Luong
Huck Seed defeats Erick Lindgren
Chris Ferguson defeats Chip Reese
David Chesnoff defeats Dan Harrington
Michael Mizrachi defeats Howard Lederer
Daniel Negreanu defeats Greg Raymer
Ted Forrest defeats Chad Brown
David Grey defeats Carlos Mortensen
Shahram Sheikhan defeats Doyle Brunson
T. J. Cloutier defeats Phil Laak
Sam Farha defeats Barry Shulman
Ernie Dureck defeats Paul Phillips

[edit] Round 3 matches

Players eliminated at this stage received $25,000 prize money.

Barry Greenstein defeats Amir Vahedi
Chris Ferguson defeats Josh Arieh
Huck Seed defeats Scott Fischman
James McManus defeats David Chesnoff
Daniel Negreanu defeats T. J. Cloutier
Sam Farha defeats Michael Mizrachi
Shahram Sheikhan defeats David Grey
Ted Forrest defeats Ernie Dureck

[edit] Quarter-final matches

Players eliminated at this stage received $75,000 prize money.

Huck Seed defeats Barry Greenstein
Chris Ferguson defeats James McManus
Shahram Sheikhan defeats Daniel Negreanu
Ted Forrest defeats Sam Farha

[edit] Semi-final matches

Players eliminated at this stage received $125,000 prize money.

Chris Ferguson defeats Huck Seed
Ted Forrest defeats Shahram Sheikhan

[edit] Grand final match

The winner received $500,000 and the runner-up received $250,000.

Ted Forrest defeats Chris Ferguson 2-1

[edit] 2007

[edit] Round 1 matches

Shannon Elizabeth defeats René Angélil
Jeff Madsen defeats Steve Zolotow
Vanessa Rousso defeats Erick Lindgren
Barry Greenstein defeats Carlos Mortensen
Chip Reese defeats Paul Darden
Phil Laak defeats Marco Traniello
Huck Seed defeats Patrik Antonius
Humberto Brenes defeats Eric Seidel
Tuan Le defeats Antonio Esfandiari
Joe Hachem defeats Chris Moneymaker
Shawn Sheikhan defeats Gus Hansen
Annie Duke defeats Jeff Shulman
Paul Wasicka defeats Eli Elezra
Nam Le defeats Greg Raymer
T. J. Cloutier defeats Cyndy Violette
Ted Forrest defeats Sam Farha
Allen Cunningham defeats John Michael
Andy Bloch defeats Jennifer Harman
Mike Matusow defeats Daniel Negreanu
Michael Mizrachi defeats John Juanda
Gavin Smith defeats David Benyamine
Johnny Chan defeats J. C. Tran
Jamie Gold defeats Jennifer Tilly
Phil Gordon defeats Scotty Nguyen
Kristy Gazes defeats Clonie Gowen
Isabelle Mercier defeats Eric Larrivee
Don Cheadle defeats Phil Ivey
Scott Fischman defeats Chris Ferguson
Brad Booth defeats Howard Lederer
David Williams defeats John D'Agostino
Gabe Kaplan defeats Todd Brunson
Chad Brown defeats Yoshio Nakano

[edit] Round 2 matches

Shannon Elizabeth def. Jeff Madsen
Barry Greenstein def. Vanessa Rousso
Huck Seed def. Chip Reese
Humberto Brenes def. Phil Laak
Paul Wasicka def. Joe Hachem
Nam Le def. Annie Duke
T.J. Cloutier def. Tuan Le
Ted Forrest def. Shawn Sheikhan
Andy Bloch def. Allen Cunningham
Mike Matusow def. Michael Mizrachi
Gavin Smith def. Johnny Chan
Phil Gordon def. Jamie Gold
Kristy Gazes def. Isabelle Mercier
Scott Fischman def. Don Cheadle
Brad Booth def. David Williams
Chad Brown def. Gabe Kaplan

[edit] Round 3 matches

Players eliminated in this stage received $25,000

Shannon Elizabeth def. Barry Greenstein
Humberto Brenes def. Huck Seed
Paul Wasicka def. T.J. Cloutier
Nam Le def. Ted Forrest
Andy Bloch def. Mike Matusow
Gavin Smith def. Phil Gordon
Kristy Gazes def. Scott Fischman
Chad Brown def. Brad Booth

[edit] Quarter-finals

Players eliminated in this stage received $75,000

Shannon Elizabeth def. Humberto Brenes
Paul Wasicka def. Nam Le
Gavin Smith def. Andy Bloch
Chad Brown def. Kristy Gazes

[edit] Semi-finals

Paul Wasicka def. Shannon Elizabeth
Chad Brown def. Gavin Smith

[edit] Finals

Paul Wasicka def. Chad Brown 2-0

[edit] Spin-Offs

In April 2006, Abandon Mobile released NBC Sports Heads-Up Poker, a mobile game licensing the National Heads-Up Poker Championship logo and offering the results of the 2006 tournament as a text message option.