Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada will be hosting the 2011 NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship from March 4th to March 6th (will be shown via NBC on six consecutive Sundays starting April 17th). The night before the tournament begins, there will be a random seeding for the brackets hosted by GoDaddy.com at PURE Nightclub.
This year the prize pool is a juicy $1.8 million with the winner walking away with a cool three-quarters of a million in cash. Each round of the tournament is a single elimination with the finals coming to best 2 out of 3 format. The field this season has everything from celebrities to top internet poker players. With the continued success of this event and prestige from winning it, the buy-in was bumped an additional $5,000 for a total of $25,000 per player.
Past National Heads Up Poker Championship Results:
2005: Phil Hellmuth over Chris Ferguson 2-1
2006: Ted Forrest over Chris Ferguson 2-1
2007: Paul Wasicka over Chad Brown 2-0
2008: Chris Ferguson over Andy Bloch 2-1
2009: Huck Seed over Vanessa Rousso 2-0
2010: Annie Duke over Erik Seidel 2-1
Current Odds to Win
|
Jason Alexander
|
100/1
|
|
|
Patrik Antonius
|
25/1
|
|
|
Eric Baldwin
|
40/1
|
|
|
David Benyamine
|
40/1
|
|
|
Andy Bloch
|
40/1
|
|
|
Liv Boeree
|
40/1
|
|
|
James Bord
|
40/1
|
|
|
Doyle Brunson
|
25/1
|
|
|
Joe Cada
|
40/1
|
|
|
Daniel Cates
|
25/1
|
|
|
Johnny Chan
|
30/1
|
|
|
Don Cheadle
|
100/1
|
|
|
Nicolas Chouity
|
40/1
|
|
|
Allen Cunningham
|
25/1
|
|
|
Jonathan Duhamel
|
40/1
|
|
|
Annie Duke
|
40/1
|
|
|
Tom Dwan
|
20/1
|
|
|
Peter Eastgate
|
50/1
|
|
|
Eli Elezra
|
40/1
|
|
|
Antonio Esfandiari
|
30/1
|
|
|
Chris Ferguson
|
20/1
|
|
|
Ted Forrest
|
25/1
|
|
|
Phil Galfond
|
20/1
|
|
|
Phil Gordon
|
50/1
|
|
|
Barry Greenstein
|
25/1
|
|
|
Bertrand Grospellier
|
30/1
|
|
|
Joe Hachem
|
40/1
|
|
|
Gus Hansen
|
25/1
|
|
|
Jennifer Harman
|
40/1
|
|
|
Phil Hellmuth
|
20/1
|
|
|
Phil Ivey
|
12/1
|
|
|
Faraz Jaka
|
25/1
|
|
|
John Juanda
|
40/1
|
|
|
Gabe Kaplan
|
75/1
|
|
|
Frank Kassel
|
40/1
|
|
|
Eugene Katchalov
|
40/1
|
|
|
Phil Laak
|
40/1
|
|
|
Howard Lederer
|
40/1
|
|
|
Erick Lindgren
|
30/1
|
|
|
Ayaz Mahmood
|
40/1
|
|
|
Thomas Marchese
|
40/1
|
|
|
Mike Matusow
|
50/1
|
|
|
Jason Mercier
|
40/1
|
|
|
Michael Mizrachi
|
35/1
|
|
|
Sorel Mizzi
|
40/1
|
|
|
Chris Moneymaker
|
75/1
|
|
|
Daniel Negreanu
|
15/1
|
|
|
Scotty Nguyen
|
40/1
|
|
|
Annette Obrestad
|
40/1
|
|
|
Dennis Phillips
|
75/1
|
|
|
Dwyte Pilgrim
|
40/1
|
|
|
John Racener
|
40/1
|
|
|
Greg Raymer
|
50/1
|
|
|
Vanessa Rousso
|
40/1
|
|
|
Kara Scott
|
100/1
|
|
|
Huck Seed
|
30/1
|
|
|
Erik Seidel
|
20/1
|
|
|
Vanessa Selbst
|
40/1
|
|
|
Emmitt Smith
|
150/1
|
|
|
Gavin Smith
|
30/1
|
|
|
Jennifer Tilly
|
75/1
|
|
|
Melburn Whitmire
|
75/1
|
|
|
David Williams
|
30/1
|
|
|
Justin Young
|
40/1
|
(odds courtesyof Bodog)
Interesting Tidbit:
jungleman12=Daniel Cates. At 25-1 this "online pro" who many consider one of the best players online is up over $5.5 million playing internet poker, with much of that in heads-up battles. Will be pretty exciting to see how he does on the felt versus the keyboard when taking on some of the biggest names in the poker world.
Community Feedback:
How is Daniel Negreanu who gets CRUSHED on "High Stakes Poker" only 15-1?
Can 2009 WSOP Champion and fellow "Michigander" Joe Cada who is known for his "heads-up" play make a run?
Will there be an upset that could rival Don Cheadle taking down Phil Ivey in 2007?
Does 2010 Tournament Winner Annie Duke have a shot at 40-1?
With his track record in this tournament, how do you not take a shot on Chris Ferguson at 20-1?