The finale of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship took place on Sunday night at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. When the smoke cleared, Huck Seed defeated new Go Daddy Girl Vanessa Rousso to take home $500,000. A best of three battle determined the winner, with Seed winning the first two heads-up matches against Rousso to record the win.
Seed, the winner of the 1996 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, told tournament officials after play had concluded, “This has always been one of my favorite tournaments of the year. I’ve played well in the past, but things especially went my way this weekend and I was able to make a run all the way to the top.” Seed defeated seven consecutive opponents to claim the win in the world’s most popular heads-up tournament. In the first round, he bested online poker pro Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little. In the round of 32, he defeated Gus Hansen. 2008 European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final Champion Glen Chorny was his victim in the Sweet Sixteen. In the round of eight, Seed outlasted David Oppenheim, setting up a semi-final match-up against Sam Farha. A win over Farha and a sweep of the three-match series with Rousso sealed his title.
Jon Miller, Executive Vice President of NBC Sports, was impressed by Seed’s run through the talented field: “Huck Seed showcased his tremendous skills by defeating the best group of participants we’ve ever had. We had a fantastic tournament. The response to this year’s event has been tremendous and we look forward to many more years of this prestigious competition.”
In 2006, Seed reached the semi-finals of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship before falling to Chris Ferguson. In 2008, he also was bested in the semi-finals, this time by Full Tilt Poker pro and former MIT Blackjack Team member Andy Bloch. All told, Seed owns an impressive National Heads-Up Poker Championship record of 18-4, or an 82% win rate.
After being named the newest Go Daddy Girl prior to the start of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, Rousso defeated Doyle Brunson in the first round and Phil Ivey in the round of 32; the pair holds a combined 15 bracelets. Rousso defeated 2006 WSOP Main Event runner up Paul Wasicka in the Sweet Sixteen and Daniel Negreanu in the Elite Eight. She then bested fellow Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier to reach the finals against Seed.
In 2007, Rousso defeated Erick Lindgren in the first round before falling to Barry Greenstein. In 2008, she once again made it out of the first round by beating Antonio Esfandiari, but then fell to Bloch. She is now 7-3 in National Heads-Up Poker Championship play, having won 70% of her matches. Rousso earned a $250,000 consolation prize for her runner up finish. More importantly, she showcased a considerable amount of face time for the tournament’s sponsor, Go Daddy, as well as PokerStars.
The tournament will air on NBC beginning in April and run for six weeks. NBC notes that viewers in the Pacific time zone are encouraged to check their local listings for more information on when they can catch the tournament:
Sunday, April 12th: Noon – 2:00pm ET
Sunday, April 19th: Noon – 1:00pm ET
Sunday, April 26th: Noon – 2:00pm ET
Sunday, May 3rd: Noon – 2:00pm ET
Sunday, May 10th: Noon – 2:00pm ET
Sunday, May 17th: Noon – 3:00pm ET
The National Heads-Up Poker Championship featured several celebrities in the field. Among them was actor and Ante Up for Africa co-founder Don Cheadle, who bested David “The Dragon” Pham in the first round before falling to Wasicka. “Everybody Loves Raymond” actor Brad Garrett defeated “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant and Ultimate Bet pro Annie Duke in the first round before dropping his second round match to Chorny. Former Major League Baseball pitcher and current PokerStars ambassador Orel Hershiser was trumped by Ted Forrest in his opening match.
Four players qualified online for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship; all of them lost in the first round. The two Caesars Palace qualifiers, Kenny Yeh and Jeffrey Ishbia, went 1-1 in the opening round, with the latter defeating online qualifier Leon Yanovski to open the tournament before losing to Phil Hellmuth in the second round.
