Trying to pick the lead story of Friday’s first round action in the 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship is no easy task. Upsets-a-plenty characterized the day, the biggest of which came after Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith defeated PokerStars pro David Williams in the first round. The tournament is emanating from Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip.
The Hearts bracket was the site of the upset and Smith now gets a date with Victory Poker pro Andrew “good2cu” Robl, who outlasted “High Stakes Poker” hostess Kara Scott in Round #1. Smith is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher and, to the surprise of many, sent the reigning World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship winner to an early exit from the $25,000 buy-in tournament.
Those who wanted to see the rubber match between Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Phil Hellmuth will have to wait a little longer. While Dwan bested Ante Up for Africa co-founder Don Cheadle in the first round, Hellmuth fell to high-stakes cash game pro David Benyamine. Here are the second round match-ups in the Hearts bracket:
Andrew “good2cu” Robl vs Emmitt Smith
Gavin Smith vs James Bord
Phil Laak vs Michael Mizrachi
Tom “durrrr” Dwan vs David Benyamine
In the Diamonds bracket, Jennifer Harman defeated Huck Seed in the first round. Seed, who won the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2009, owns the most number of wins in the single-elimination contest at 19, but has now failed to advance out of the first round in two straight years.
Apparently, Peter Eastgate still remembers how to play poker. Despite a brief retirement, Eastgate knocked out fellow Main Event champion Chris Ferguson on Friday and advances to a second round match against Vanessa Selbst. Face it: there are no easy matches. Here are today’s second round pairings in the Diamonds bracket:
Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier vs Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond
Vanessa Selbst vs Peter Eastgate
Jennifer Harman vs Erik Seidel
Greg Raymer vs Phil Gordon
While Dwyte Pilgrim has dominated the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit, he’s now 0-1 in National Heads-Up Poker Championship play. On Friday, Pilgrim fell to Olivier Busquet, who was a last minute replacement for Annie Duke. Last year’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner was forced to bow out due to a family emergency and Poker News Daily wishes her the best. Busquet will face Liv Boeree in the round of 32. Here are the pairings in the Clubs bracket:
Olivier Busquet vs Liv Boeree
Jason Mercier vs Andy Bloch
Barry Greenstein vs Ayaz Mahmood
Jonathan Duhamel vs Antonio Esfandiari
The match of the day in the Spades bracket pitted Phil Ivey against Dan “jungleman12” Cates in a showdown between two of the top cash game players on the planet. In the end, the Durrrr Challenge combatant got the best of Ivey and will now face 2003 WSOP Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker. Ivey made it out of the first round last year before falling to Scotty Nguyen when 32 players remained.
Also in the Spades bracket, Patrik Antonius booked his first National Heads-Up Poker Championship win. Antonius bested Sorel Mizzi in the first round and now gets a date with recent SuperStar Showdown challenger Eugene Katchalov. Carlos Mortensen, fresh off a third place finish in the WPT’s L.A. Poker Classic, plays David Oppenheim in the second round after trumping Sam Trickett on Friday.
Here are the pairings for the Spades bracket:
Doyle Brunson vs Dennis Phillips
Dan “jungleman12” Cates vs Chris Moneymaker
Carlos Mortensen vs David Oppenheim
Patrik Antonius vs Eugene Katchalov
The tournament will crown a winner on Sunday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
