How about this? Not really a poker variant – just another way to run a poker tournament.

The event is run as a knockout. The game is heads up limit hold em and the tournament is for teams of two. One player from one team plays heads up against one player from another team and, simultaneously, the other two players also play heads up. The matches last approx 250 deals and are played in isolation from each other. The hands are ‘pre-set’ (but also random – no fixed deals) with both tables playing the exact same cards. Obviously one player from one team plays one ‘set’ of cards while his partner in the other match plays the other ‘set’ of cards. Whichever team has the most money at the end of the match are the winners. The stacks are huge compared to the blind sizes so noone is in danger of busting out.

This should – just about – manage the luck factor and the team that plays better has a very good chance to win.

It is basically a variant of duplicate bridge. It could also be played as a one-off heads up challenge, e.g. Negreanu and Hansen versus Harman and Forrest (or whatever), possibly with a greater number of deals. The challenge is to find the best heads up team in the world.