Over the weekend, action from the 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship continued airing on NBC over the course of two hours on Sunday at 11:00am ET. The pairings from the opening round in the Spades, Clubs, and Diamonds brackets aired and the field was chopped from 64 players to 32.
The Spades bracket included a feature table match-up between Jennifer Tilly and DoylesRoom front man Doyle Brunson. Tilly’s boyfriend, Phil Laak, was railing her in earnest and she admitted National Heads-Up Poker Championship cameras, “The thing about heads-up is you always have to be putting the chips out. You can never relax.”
The first all-in and call involved Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who pushed with 9-4 on a board of 4-9-8-A for two pair. However, PokerStars pro Eugene Katchalov had him dominated with pocket eights for a set and Jaka was the first departure from the Spades bracket. Both Jaka and Katchalov were making their National Heads-Up Poker Championship debuts.
Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi and Erick Lindgren fell by the wayside in the Spades bracket. Also exiting was UB.com pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, who moved his chips into the middle before the flop with Q-J only to run into David Oppenheim’s K-Q. A flop of K-3-10 gave Oppenheim a sweat, but the board filled out J-3 and Baldwin was eliminated.
Carlos Mortensen, the World Poker Tour’s all-time money leader, hit the river hard during Sunday’s telecast on NBC. He drew out on the final card three times, the third of which cost Sam Trickett his tournament life. Trickett was all-in before the flop with A-9 against Mortensen’s Q-10. The board of 6-K-K-J left Mortensen clamoring for a nine or ace on the river to make a straight and, sure enough, a bullet ended Trickett’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship run.
John Racener was the second-to-last elimination of the bracket and Tilly followed suit after pushing pre-flop with K-2. Brunson looked down at J-10, made the call, and promptly flopped a 10 to take a lead he would never relinquish. Just like that, the first hour of the broadcast was complete.
The second hour began with action from the Clubs bracket, where the featured pairing was Liv Boeree against “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander. The latter warned, “My game is on fire.” Seated at the secondary feature table were World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit terror Dwyte Pilgrim and Olivier Busquet. The former barked, “The fundamentals ain’t gonna win you the tournament. The heart is gonna take you over the top.”
Alexander was the first elimination after his pocket queens could not withstand Boeree’s A-6 of hearts. The actor fell to 0-2 in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, while Boeree advanced to the round of 32 in her debut in the invitation-only tournament.
Busquet ultimately relegated the chirpy Pilgrim to the rail after Pilgrim’s 9-5 could not suck out on K-10 of clubs. Elsewhere in the makeshift Caesars Palace poker room, Ted Forrest was bounced after moving all-in with J-9 on a 10-Q-A flop for an open-ender against Jason Mercier, who held Q-4 for middle pair. A jack and a 10 fell on the turn and river, respectively, punching Mercier’s ticket to the second round.
Meanwhile, European Poker Tour Grand Final winner Nicolas Chouity moved all-in pre-flop with pocket jacks against Victory Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari. “The Magician” held Big Slick and we were off to the races. Esfandiari was drawing to a wheel on the river, which hit when a five landed on the board to advance him to the second round for the first time since 2005.
Finally, reigning WSOP Main Event winner Jonathan Duhamel doubled up twice through Caesars Palace qualifier Melvin Whitmire before finally taking out the amateur with pocket fours against K-Q. Duhamel found a set on the flop after previously doubling up with the nut flush and quads.
The final 30 minutes of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship broadcast were devoted to the Diamonds bracket, where all eyes were focused on Mike Matusow and Greg Raymer.
You can catch action from the round of 32 this Sunday at Noon ET on NBC. Check your local listings for more details.
