2008 National Heads Up Poker Championship

[stereoman]

We had some fun with this event last year and I got flukey picking Paul Wasicka as one of my initial four picks. The championship starts tonight!

The draw:

Clubs
* Jonathan Little vs. Erik Seidel
* Patrik Antonius vs. Gabe Kaplan
* Greg Raymer vs. Hooman Nikzad
* Kenny Tran vs. Scott Clements
* Mike Matusow vs. Joseph Hachem
* Tom Dwan vs. Phil Hellmuth
* Tom Schneider vs. Gavin Smith
* Chris Ferguson vs. John Juanda

Spades
* Don Cheadle vs. Gus Hansen
* Scotty Nguyen vs. Bill Edler
* Jerry Yang vs. Chris Moneymaker
* David Singer vs. Phil Laak
* Phil Ivey vs. Alisha Kunze
* David Williams vs. Johnny Chan
* Daniel Schreiber vs. T.J. Cloutier
* Annie Duke vs. J.C. Tran

Diamonds
* Jason Alexander vs. Huck Seed
* David Pham vs. Brian Townsend
* Clonie Gowen vs. Jennifer Tilly
* Daniel Negreanu vs. Michael Mizrachi
* Barry Greenstein vs. Howard Lederer
* David Benyamine vs. Jennifer Harman
* Sam Farha vs. Doyle Brunson
* Erick Lindgren vs. Eli Elezra

Hearts
* Vanessa Rousso vs. Antonio Esfandiari
* Shannon Elizabeth vs. Andy Bloch
* Todd Brunson vs. Scott Fischman
* Jamie Gold vs. Tom Kelly
* Ted Forrest vs. Orel Hershiser
* Allen Cunningham vs. Chad Brown
* Jean-Robert Bellande vs. Sam Grizzle
* Freddy Deeb vs. Paul Wasicka

The start times for each bracket are as follows: Hearts 10:15 a.m., Diamonds 1:15 p.m., Clubs 4:15 p.m., and Spades 6:45 p.m. (they're eight hours behind as they're PST).

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news...d-matchups-set

The winner of the clubs bracket will play the winner of the spades bracket and the winner of the diamonds bracket will play the winner of the hearts bracket.

Bet365's odds on who'll be the outright winner:



They haven't included Freddy Deeb but have included Brad Garrett (who isn't playing!).

[stereoman]

Daniel Negreanu's picking Antonio Esfandiari, Kenny Tran, DOyle Brunson and J.C. Tran to make the semi-finals with Doyle Brunson as the winner.

My Offical Nbc Heads Up Picks - FCP Poker Forum

I don't think there's a bookie willing to price any of the first round matches.

[stereoman]

Bet365 have answered the call...

* Tom 'Durrr' Dwan 4/5 vs. Phil Hellmuth 10/11
* Patrik Antonius 4/6 vs. Gabe Kaplan 11/10
* Don Cheadle 13/8 vs. Gus Hansen 4/9
* Daniel 'Rekrul' Schreiber 1/1 vs. T.J. Cloutier 8/11
* Todd Brunson 4/5 vs. Scott Fischman 10/11
* Allen Cunningham 4/6 vs. Chad Brown 11/10
* Barry Greenstein 8/11 vs. Howard Lederer 1/1
* Erick Lindgren 8/11 vs. Eli Elezra 1/1

Odds on who will the brackets:

[Jezza]

take durrr and rekrul in their HU matches.

Rekrul in particular is very very good. He won the last WSOP HU event and plays a ton of HU online, which in typical fashion he destroys. There is absolutely NO way TJ should be favourite there. Even money is a good price here, the prices should be the other way around imo. Ive backed both of these picks with my money so they will prob go tits up now

[Jezza]

I really cannot believe that price actually. Rekrul is not that well known I suppose and TJ is the named player - that can be the only explanation for that price tbh. GET ON IT PEOPLE!!!

[stereoman]

I think on the surface one has gotta agree that Dwan and Schreiber are the calls. I just hope they know what the blind structures are otherwise they could get needlessly creative and trap themselves.

I'll be cheering on Tom and Dan to do the bizzo as well.

My thinking on variance dictates that if you can lay Gus Hansen at 9/4 not to win against Don Cheadle you may as well (no matter how much Gus should be able to beat Don) although that may be the statistically minded 2+2ers getting to me.

NBC HeadsUp stats - history of the event - Two Plus Two Forums

It's going to be absolutely fascinating. I think some folks over at 2+2 are going to take this tournament as 'very personal' particularly those taking sides as to 'who's better?' in regards 'online versus live' players.

I don't have any particularly strong feelings like I did last year as to who will win the event or as to who will win the brackets right now but I'll try and 'complete my bracket' before 6pm.

It's an absolute shame I didn't book my holidays for this week like I did last year as I won't be following this live whilst I'm at work.

[Jezza]

Haha I just went to put more on this on bet365 (the rekrul bet) and it got referred to a trader who declined it. I phoned them up and they accepted a token amount over what I have already bet. Pretty s**tty given its an even money bet and the amount I am putting on is not really all that big in the big scheme of things. None the less this is one of my biggest sports bets of recent times and bennet365 is running scared already, ahahahahahahahaha.

[Jezza]

got small outright bets on Schreiber and kenny tran (50s and 60s respectively) as well now. Gl everyone betting on this

[alexross]

not betting on this, but here's who i think will win some of the fixtures

* Tom 'Durrr' Dwan 4/5 vs. Phil Hellmuth 10/11
* Patrik Antonius 4/6 vs. Gabe Kaplan 11/10
* Don Cheadle 13/8 vs. Gus Hansen 4/9
* Daniel 'Rekrul' Schreiber 1/1 vs. T.J. Cloutier 8/11
* Todd Brunson 4/5 vs. Scott Fischman 10/11 [no danger todd]
* Allen Cunningham 4/6 vs. Chad Brown 11/10
* Barry Greenstein 8/11 vs. Howard Lederer 1/1
* Erick Lindgren 8/11 vs. Eli Elezra 1/1


where is coverage? pokernews?
is it streaming anywhere?

[Jezza]

I dont think its streaming anywhere no, but plenty of live updates everywhere alex - ill be looking at Poker News, Poker Tournament Coverage, Freerolls, Poker Magazine. CardPlayer.com for them prob

[stereoman]

WOW!!

Some surprise results so far but the 'internet hotshots' have gone 4-for 4 (Scott Clements, Tom Durr, Jonathan Little and Brian Townsend have all won).

The spades bracket has only started in the last hour or so. Come on Rekrul!

LOL at how Phil Hellmuth was knocked out...

[stereoman]

ACHH!! Commentator's curse...



The second round draw:

Clubs
* Jonathan Little vs. Gabe Kaplan
* Greg Raymer vs. Scott Clements
* Mike Matusow vs. Tom Dwan
* Gavin Smith vs. Chris Ferguson

Spades
* Gus Hansen vs. Scotty Nguyen
* Jerry Yang vs. Phil Laak
* Phil Ivey vs. Johnny Chan
* T.J. Cloutier vs. J.C. Tran

Diamonds
* Huck Seed vs. Brian Townsend
* Clonie Gowen vs. Michael Mizrachi
* Barry Greenstein vs. David Benyamine
* Doyle Brunson vs. Erick Lindgren

Hearts
* Vanessa Rousso vs. Andy Bloch
* Scott Fischman vs. Jamie Gold
* Orel Hershiser vs. Allen Cunningham
* Sam Grizzle vs. Freddy Deeb

It's a good thing I didn't bother to have any ante-post bets or fill my bracket.

[stereoman]

Updated outright winner odds as well as odds for a few of the match-ups:



* Chris Ferguson 4/5 vs. Gavin Smith 10/11
* Phil Laak 4/5 vs. Jerry Yang 10/11
* Vanessa Rousso 5/6 vs. Andy Bloch 5/6
* Scott Fischman 8/11 vs. Jamie Gold 1/1
* Brian Townsend 4/5 vs. Huck Seed 10/11
* Doyle Brunson 5/6 vs. Erick Lindgren 5/6
* Barry Greenstein 5/6 vs. David Benyamine 5/6
* Gus Hansen 4/6 vs. Scotty Nguyen 11/10
* Scott Clements 4/6 vs. Greg Raymer 11/10
* J.C. Tran 5/6 vs. T.J. Cloutier 5/6

[Jezza]

bugger

[stereoman]

Ah...I noticed The Boss went 6-for-8. You should have put some money on Gabe, alex!

For shits and giggles I'm rooting with money for Scott Fischman (8/11). I can't see Jamie Gold bamboozling him like he did to Tom Kelly. Only £25 mind.

My other predictions for the winners of all the other matches are: Jonathan Little, Scott Clements, Tom Dwan, Chris Ferguson, Gus Hansen, Phil Laak, Phil Ivey, T.J. Cloutier, Huck Seed, Michael Mizrachi, Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, Andy Bloch, Allen Cunningham and Freddy Deeb.