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The field of 64 is set in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will air on NBC. One of the highlights of the opening round is a titanic showdown between pros Jason Mercier and , who have both been on a hot streak.
Mercier and Negreanu made the final table of the () Europe Main Event last year. Mercier finished fourth in the £10,000 buy-in poker tournament, while Negreanu fell heads-up to CardPlayer Magazine owner Barry Shulman after entering as the short stack. Mercier and Negreanu collected £267,000 and £495,000 for their efforts, respectively. Both are bracelet winners and members of Team PokerStars Pro.
Mercier enters the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which is emanating from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, on a high note. Last week, the Florida native took third in the L.A. Poker Classic’s High-Roller event for $141,000. In December, Mercier won a $5,000 HORSE event during the Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $100,000. Negreanu made waves during the recent Premier League, finishing fourth at the final table. Heading into Thursday’s draw party, Negreanu Tweeted his desired first round opponent: “Headed down to Pure for the NBC HU draw party and I’m hoping to NOT draw one of the 7 qualifiers or a woman. Record going into #6 is 7-5.”
Meanwhile, two titans of the online poker industry will tangle, as 13 bracelets will meet when front man takes on UB.com bad boy . Lederer was fourth on Bluff Magazine’s Power 20 list, while Hellmuth leads the all-time bracelet count with 11. Both have crafty nicknames, as “The Professor” will take on “The Poker Brat” in a high-stakes first round encounter.
In an all-female first round showdown, Poker’s is paired up with actress . A total of seven women will make their way to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas today for first round action. Joining Harman and Tilly to add estrogen to the field are , Annette Dworski, Annette “” Obrestad, , and Kara Scott. Six women took to the field in 2009, including Rousso, who finished as the runner-up to .
Those in the hunt for the title range between 21 (Obrestad) and 76 years-old (Doyle Brunson). The tournament hits television airwaves on NBC beginning on April 18th and will run for six consecutive Sundays. The ultimate survivor of the single elimination heads-up tournament pockets $500,000, while its runner-up takes home a cool $250,000. Here’s a look at the first round match-ups in the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
Clubs Bracket – Top Half
vs
Leo Wolpert vs Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin
vs
vs Huck Seed
Clubs Bracket – Bottom Half
Dan Ramirez vs
vs Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
Stephen Quinn vs
Dario Minieri vs
Spades Bracket – Top Half
vs
Richard Edwards vs
Shawn “westtexasman” Rice vs
Gabe Kaplan vs
Spades Bracket – Bottom Half
Daniel Negreanu vs Jason Mercier
Pieter de Korver vs
vs Tom “” Dwan
vs
Hearts Bracket – Top Half
Jesper Hougaard vs
Eli Elezra vs Greg “FBT” Mueller
Annette Dworski vs
Kara Scott vs
Hearts Bracket – Bottom Half
Brock “t soprano” Parker vs Doyle Brunson
J.P. Kelly vs Don Cheadle
Howard Lederer vs Phil Hellmuth
Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad vs Orel Hershiser
Diamonds Bracket – Top Half
vs Vanessa Rousso
Sammy Farha vs
Jennifer Harman vs Jennifer Tilly
Jerry Yang vs
Diamonds Bracket - Bottom Half
vs Bill Huntress
vs Annie Duke
Andrew Wilson vs Paul Wasicka
vs
Rice and Huntress both qualified for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship at the host casino, while Dworski, Edwards, Quinn, Ramirez, and Wilson all won online satellites. The tournament’s first round will play out today, while the second round will take place on Saturday. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship match will all pan out on Sunday.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from Caesars Palace.
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