National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

Danny N.'s Blog-Matchups

A couple really jump out at me like David Sklansky v. Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth v Men the Master, but I'd LOVE to watch the Duke/Fischman battle. For some reason I really think Duke will school him. Plus if Duke and Danny both win their first 3 matches then the two will face off, and their is definitely no love lost between those two.

I would bet tons on Elezra kicking the tar out of moneymaker but maybe Chris will surprise us.

Anyway, just thought I'd start a post as I didn't see one yet.

Brad

Re: National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

Good to see Mike Caro finally getting his nose fully into the poker boom. Hope he waxes Scotty Nguyen.

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Phil Ivey vs David Sklansky. Thats the one i wanna watch most in the first round.

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That field is out of control. What a tournament. That's a who's who, if I ever saw one.

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How about Friedman vs Farha?

Two action players that can and will play any hand any way. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

In the order of my interest:

1) Sklansky - Ivey

2) Hellmuth - Men the Master

3) Juanda - Chau Giang

4) Spirit Rock - Farha

5) Lederer - Magician

As long as NBC doesn't butcher this it should be awesome.

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Friedman versus Farha.....

Now thats gonna be interesting or over really fast.

If all the cards come even ( and heads up they almost never do) Ivey will take out Sklansky 6-7 times out of 10...if anything this is one of the more lobsided matchups..this is NL correct?

I love Sklansky but NLH isnt his best game at all and Ivey simply plays 25x as much poker as Sklansky does. Remember, me saying that is not a criticism of Sklansky as much as an acknowledgment of how strong Ivey is as a player.

Re: National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

If they released an unedited version on DVD I would buy it in a heartbeat. That many maches would be amazing.

I hope to god they dont screw this one up.

Have they listed the blind structure any where? I assume they will be given a lot of chips to play with...

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Does anyone have any background on Yosh Nakano, Henry Orenstein or Dennis Wagner? These are the only 3 players in the bracket I am not at all familiar with.

Thanks,

KennyBanya

Re: National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

Yea I was wondering what the money line on the skalansky Ivey match up would be. Any other speculation?

I'm sure NBC will do a good job, I would love to buy a dvd showing all the matches card for card as well.

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Not a huge poker fan here so bear with me...

Yosh is a high limit holdem player who regularly plays like 300-600 I think and mixed games. He was in an episode of the 2003 WSOP and got busted on like day 1 ...i think he tinkers in NLH tourneys for more fun than $$..he almost made the final table in the 02 main event(thanks hendon mob database lol)

Orenstein plays alot of games well...LHE NLHE 7CS ...and has a bracelet in 7 card stud I think.

Wagner, I have no friggun clue.

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In commercials for Poker Superstars II, Caro's in that as well.

Kevin...

Re: National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

Orenstein's patent

Kevin...

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Isn't Wagner the guy that was discussed in another post about this tourney. A bunch of posters knew the guy and said they'd lay their life's savings on his opponent.

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I'm stoked to see Todd Brunson/Erick Lindgren and it's cool that Dewey Tompko and Paul Phillips get another go too.

Re: National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

[ QUOTE ]
Danny N.'s Blog-Matchups

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God I really hope Daniel wears a Miami Heat Shaq jersey to the tourney. That would put me on tilt before the cards were even delt if I was Jerry Buss.

Re: National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

[ QUOTE ]
He was in an episode of the 2003 WSOP and got busted on like day 1

[/ QUOTE ]

Correct. He flopped bottom set shortstacked and Padraig Parkinson put him all in, Padrig had a flushdraw. Yosh ofcource called and Padraig cought the flush on the turn. Board didn't pair on river and Yosh was out.

blind structure...
 

taken directly from the site

http://www.headsuppokerchamp.com/player_bios.html

The NHPC blind structure was created with consideration toward what would make for good television and what would be fair to all players. On January 30, eight professional players (Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, David Grey, Jennifer Harman Tranielli, Marco Tranielli, Erick Lindgren, Carlos Mortensen and his wife Cecilia) tried out six different structures before settling on the final blind structure (listed below).


ROUND OF STARTING CHIPS BLINDS
64
$20,000 100-200, 150-300, 200-400,
300-600, 400-800, 600-1200

32 $40,000 150-300, 200-400, 300-600,
400-800, 600-1200, 1000-2000

16 $80,000 300-600, 400-800, 600-1200,
1000-2000, 1500-3000, 2k-4k

8 $160,000 400-800, 800-1600, 1000-2000,
2K-4K, 3K-6K, 4K-8K

4 $320,000 800-1600, 1500-3000, 2K-4K,
4K-8K, 6K-12K, 8K-16K

2 $640,000 2K-4K, 4K-8K, 6K-12K, 10K-20K,
20K-40K, 30K-60K


Anyone know what blog or reporting site will be following this? Doesn't look like Pokerwire.com will be.

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[ QUOTE ]
They are genuinely treating this tournament the way that they would a PGA or Nascar event, treating the players with the utmost respect and providing a top quality set for the show.

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With one important difference, we have to wait two months to see it [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

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[ QUOTE ]

With one important difference, we have to wait two months to see it [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

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Oh darn, wish the WPT was only 2 months. Considering that the Mirage Poker Showdown was filmed last summer. Not bad...what...8-9 month turnaround and all the reruns you can stomach?

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Lots of great matchups. The one I'm most interested in is Hennigan/Flack, I'm rooting for either of these guys to win the whole enchilada.

Looks like the pre-tourney favorites got byes, Buss/Negreanu, Woods/Chan. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Others I'd like to watch include TBruson/Lindgren, Friedman/Farha, Juanda/Giang, SNguyen/Caro, Williams/Mortensen, Raymer/Liebert, Pham/Seed, Tomko/Phillips, Hellmuth/MNguyen, Lederer/Esfandiari, Ivey/Sklansky, Fischman/Duke.

What a great, great tourney.

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At The Bicycle, they had a mini heads up tournament in preparation for this, and Jerry Buss won it, so he is at least capable of playing in this format, how well he will do against Daniel is another story.

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[ QUOTE ]
If they released an unedited version on DVD I would buy it in a heartbeat. That many maches would be amazing.

I hope to god they dont screw this one up.

Have they listed the blind structure any where? I assume they will be given a lot of chips to play with...

[/ QUOTE ]


Mmmm, complete play DVD set.....****drool****

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Looking a little closer, Daniel's bracket is loaded. Whoever comes out of that group will have really earned it.

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The heads-up format would lend itself particularly well to live TV. You don't have to worry about a match going on for many hours. If poker has truly arrived at the level of other sports, let's see more live broadcasts.

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Kind of interesting. Odds

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Anyone notice they dropped the field bet to 25/1? If they're going to offer a bet that can't be won, the least they could do is offer decent odds on it. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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[ QUOTE ]
Friedman versus Farha.....

Now thats gonna be interesting or over really fast.

[/ QUOTE ]

The jury finds for "over really fast" - Friedman was the first one busted out!

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An interesting RULE that is in play during this tournament:

Exposing hole cards
Since all the matches are heads up, and the players action cannot influence the outcome of other matches, we are allowing the players to expose one or both of their hole cards during a hand if they feel that they can use this tactic to their advantage.

Greg H.

Re: National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

Also, in the Ivey profile in Cardplayer a few weeks ago, he talks about how, when he was trying to move up to 100-200 (or 200-400?), he'd grind all week at 75-150 (grind?) to get his bankroll up for the bigger limit and Orenstein would kill him every weekend when he sat down with him. He said it went on for 6 months until he was able to break through.

unknowns
 

[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone have any background on Yosh Nakano, Henry Orenstein or Dennis Wagner? These are the only 3 players in the bracket I am not at all familiar with.

Thanks,


His name is Dennis Wager not Dennis Wagner. He has been playing poker for about a year, has never won in his life, and regularly loses about 5,000/night playing 30-60. The only time he has ever won in anything in poker, is playing me heads up, and he has beaten me twice.

He is a very nice guy, with a TON OF MONEY but is one of the worst players to ever play the game. I already heard from a mutual friend yesterday that he was playing Sammy Farha heads up yesterday and by the time my friend got to the hotel, (he was a guest of Dennis') he was already re-buying for another 50,000.


Very strange that he was invited, the way Dennis always told this story, is that this tournament was going to be "half whales, half pro's." And hes the only true unknown whale in the whole tournament. Be interesting if NBC uses this angle as a "dead money/cinderella story."

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Any other sites giving updates besides cardplayer?

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Re: National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

The dream matchup has occurred...

Paul Phillips vs. Phil Hellmuth in round 2.

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Ted Forrest pushes all in against Miami John Cernuto on a ragged flop showing three clubs. Miami John quickly calls with 10-7 suited -- he flopped a flush. Forrest reveals pocket 5s, and he is a huge underdog. But the board pairs on the turn, giving him two pair and keeping his hopes alive with a potential full house. Sure enough, a 5 hits on the river, giving him the full house he needed to defeat Miami John's flush. Miami John Cernuto is eliminated, and Ted Forrest advances to Round 2, where he will face Josh Arieh.

--

Live poker is rigged!

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Is it me or is Card Player doing a horrible job with the "Live Updates"? I've read the same headline involving Forrest vs. Cernuto for the past half hour at least.

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Man, I really hope we get to see Juanda vs. Giang.

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Oh my freaking god.

Hellmuth vs. Men the Master has to be the premier 1st round matchup.

Re: National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

[ QUOTE ]
If they released an unedited version on DVD I would buy it in a heartbeat. That many maches would be amazing.

I hope to god they dont screw this one up.

Have they listed the blind structure any where? I assume they will be given a lot of chips to play with...

[/ QUOTE ]

I would pay a ton for an unedited DVD box set of this tournament.

Re: National Heads Up Poker Championship
 

i was wanting to watch sklanksy and ivey more than anyone so it's pretty cool they got drawn to play each other first round.