2010 NBC Heads-up Poker Championship

by Chad Holloway

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The NBC National Heads-up Championship line-up was recently released.  I always get excited for this tournament.  Not only does it attract some of the best in the business, but it provides a great Fantasy Poker opportunity.  Like March Madness, this tournament format allows Fantasy Poker players to fill out a bracket and compete against other players.  It is fun and easy to do and seems to give me a rooting interest in the outcome.  The official match-ups aren’t revealed until the day before at the official draw party, so you won’t be able to fill out the brackets until then.  If you’re looking for a printable, blank bracket, I recommend doing a quick internet search.

So what do I think of this year’s line-up?  Well of course there are the usual suspects, those who qualify for the tournament each and every year.  These include the past winners (Ted Forrest, Phil Hellmuth, Paul Wasicka, Chris Ferguson and Huck Seed), the past two year’s runner-ups (Vanessa Rousso and Andy Bloch), the recent WSOP Main Event winners (Greg Raymer, Joseph Hachem, Jamie Gold, Jerry Yang, Peter Eastgate, and Joe Cada), and the last WSOP Main Event runner-up (Darvin Moon).  It should be fun to see how Cada and Moon fair after their epic WSOP heads-up battle.

I am pretty excited about some of the other players who managed to qualify based on their performances at the WSOP and other tournaments around the world. These include Phil Ivey, Sam Farha, Brock Parker, Greg Mueller, Leo Wolpert, Peiter de Korver, Eric Baldwin, and Jason Mercier.  Both Baldwin and Mercier are coming off stellar years and I have a feeling that at least one of these two will go deep in the event.

I was shocked that a couple invitees have declined to participate including the reigning WSOP Player of the Year, Jeffrey Lisandro, and WSOP-Europe winner, Barry Shulman.  Both would have needed to fork over the $20,000 buy-in (all players do except the internet qualifiers), but it’s still hard to imagine that they’d pass on such a great opportunity.  The selection committee did a good job on extending invites to both Annette Obrestad, the 2007 WSOP-Europe champion and recent 21 year-old, and Kara Scott, the new High Stakes Poker host.  Likewise, both Jesper Hougaard and John Paul Kelly, both winners of a WSOP and a WSOPE bracelet in a single calendar year (2008 and 2009), are competing and should give the European fans someone to root for.  Speaking of which, I’ve been waiting for years to see Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott and Tony G compete in the tournament (selection committee get on that).

The celebrities are great but not too exciting since they’ve all been there before (Don Cheadle, Orel Hershiser, and Gabe Kaplan); however, it should be exciting to see Jennifer Tilly back in the poker saddle.  I’m also not sure about having seven internet qualifiers.  Sure, it’s nice to give them a chance, but it’d be kind of boring if two unknowns make it to the final round.

The following players competed in 2009 but weren’t invited back for 2010: Layne Flack, Chad Brown, Scott Fischman, Ivan Demidov, David Pham, John Phan, Kenny Tran, Jonathan Little, Glen Chorny, Brad Garrett, Gavin Griffin, Vanessa Selbst, David Benyamine, Clonie Gowen, J.C. Tran, and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies.  I don’t see any names on here that are particularily surprising.  I could see both Sahamies and Benyamine getting spots, but I guess they’ll have to wait until next year.

So who are my picks?  Its hard to say since the brackets haven’t been announced yet, but I think that Baldwin and Mercier are safe bets.  I’m also thinking Gus Hansen will find success this year; however, I think the man to take it down will be none other than the Unabomber himself, Phil Laak.  Sure, I might be biased since I write for his blog, but aside from that I think his recent result speak for themselves.  He kicked ass in the Premier League heats and the World Open V.  I have a feeling he is going to carry that momentum into this event.

The NBC Heads-up Championship takes place March 4-7 at Caesars Palace.  The tournament itself will air on NBC in the spring.  I’ll be sure to blog about the tournament’s happenings, so check back here for updates.  The complete list of participants, in alphabetical order, is found below:

Patrik Antonius, Eric Baldwin, Andy Bloch, Doyle Brunson, Joe Cada, Johnny Chan, Don Cheadle, Allen Cunningham, Pieter de Korver, Annie Duke, Tom Dwan, Peter Eastgate, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Sam Farha, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Jamie Gold, Phil Gordon, Barry Greenstein, Bertrand Grospellier, Joe Hachem, Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman, Phil Hellmuth, Orel Hershiser, Jesper Hougaard, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Gabe Kaplan, John Paul Kelly, Phil Laak, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, Mike Matusow, Jason Mercier, Dario Minieri, Chris Moneymaker, Darvin Moon, Greg Mueller, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen, Annette Obrestad, Brock Parker, Dennis Phillips, Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso, Kara Scott, Huck Seed, Erik Seidel, Mike Sexton, Gavin Smith, Jennifer Tilly, Paul Wasicka, David Williams, Leo Wolpert, and Jerry Yang.

Fantasy Poker: Negreanu Picks a Winner

by Chad Holloway

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Wow, Phil is kicking ass in the Premier League.  For those of you who don’t know, it’s a twelve person tournament ($100,000 buy-in) where each player plays four times at an eight handed table and points are awarded based upon performance.  The Unabomber has won his first two heats and has basically clinched a spot at the final table.  For more updates check out Phil’s blogs (he’s got some great photos). 

Another thing that got me really excited about the Premier League was the fact that Daniel Negreanu put a Fantasy Poker spin on it.  Negreanu has long been a pioneer in the Fantasy Poker world, so it was no surprise when he and Roland De Wolfe both decided to do a fantasy draft for some extra cash.  As Negreanu stated in his blog:

“Before we even got started I ran into Roland de Wolfe who is always up for a bit of gambling action and we decided to do a draft for the tournament. He won the toss and got to choose if he went first or second. It was a snake draft so 1st pick meant you'd also end up with pick #12 as well. He smartly gave me first pick.”

Their draft went as follows:

 

1. Evgeny Timoshenko (Negreanu)

2. J.C Tran (Roland)

3. Daniel Negreanu (Roland)

4. Tony G. (Negreanu)

5. Luke Schwartz (Negreanu)

6. Roland de Wolfe (Roland)

7. Vanessa Rousso (Roland)

8. Phil Laak (Negreanu)

9. Ian Fraser (Neagreanu)

10. David Benyamine (Roland)

11. Phil Hellmuth (Roland)

12. Online Qualifer (Negreanu) 

 

Whoever’s team earns the most points will win the bet.  Negreanu also made a comment on choosing Laak: “I thought Phil Laak was a bit of a steal at #8, because again, this format suits him well and he's done well in these types of events before.”  Obviously he was right because Phil is tearing it up.  This is especially cool considering the UnaBomber was an alternate selection after “Texas Dolly” Doyle Brunson had to drop out.   

I wish I had known about the Premier League a few weeks earlier and I’m sure I would have done a little draft like this myself.  On the bright side, it just goes to show you how popular Fantasy Poker is getting and how a league or draft can spring up around any event.  I wonder if Phil will be able to keep up his success this summer at the World Series of Poker.  I’d like to see him become a major player in the Fantasy Poker realm, or better yet, see him take home his first bracelet.  I guess only time will tell, but until then, let’s hope he brings Unabomber Poker a Premier League title.

25k event later today.

by Phil

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I have to sleep now. It is 6 am and I have a 25k event at the Venetian manana. 49 players. 100k added by poker stars. shoot out style. Win your heat and you get 50k. The seven winners advance to a final table, for winner take all. (At anytime during the event should you felt someone, then you get 5k for it.) At my table we have. Me David Williams Joe Sebok Justin Bonomo Yevginiy Timoshenko Tommy Vedes Joe Cassidy This should be fun. We start at 7 pm today. gl to me! Phil

Flood in the Apt...

by Phil

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On Friday the 19th I zoned out and after starting to fill the tub... forgot all about it.  The water was of course on maximum and I forgot about it for only about an hour or so but the damage looked brutal.  The tub fills in about 5 to 7 mins, so it looked like about 10 or more full tubs of water were on my floor.  I summed two friends and along with about 35 towels proceeded to soak up and squeeze out the water back into the (now drained tub) and shower.  It was a rough workout that lasted for a vigorous 30 or so minutes.

I thought I was in the clear.  It didn't look too bad... and if the floor didn't buckle any more than it had in the first hour or two I thought it would all be fine.

I was typing away in the office when I got a knock on the door.  It was engineering and the guy in the apt beneath me was having a water nightmare of his own...  The water needed a place to go, and down it went.  I went to speak to him and take responsibility.  It was brutal.  His apt was RUINED.  My oh my, I felt as small as I could possibly feel.

His bathroom ceiling was DESTROYED... he had water seeping down his walls.. his floors were soaked... it was 4 or 5 times worse than I had it.

An hour later we had a water damage company filling our apts with these huge machines ... our floors were taped down.. and the machines started blowing hot dry air along the floors under the plastic tarp.  These machines run for three days straight.  It is a huge pain in the ass.  (I had no idea how impt it is to get these machines in there to REALLY SUPER DUPER dry things down.  In my case it was more or less visually ok, but left untreated, mold develops and getting rid of mold and pores and stuff is apparently such a bitch to do that most insurance companies don't even cover it.  So I was happy to fix it right the first time.)

Ok, so eventually the guy (David) whose apt I destroyed and myself coordinate with the water pros and we start to settled in for the repairs to follow.... That night I started to count up the possible damage that this whole fiasco might cost me.  (You see, the fellow beneath me just moved in and just finished painting and putting the new floors in and didn't have insurance yet.)  I told him not to worry as my policy might cover it and if not... then I would handle it all out of pocket.  Sting....

It has been 4 1/2 days and the air vac machines are still humming along.  I put David up at the Bellagio and the claims adjuster guy comes Wednesday the 24th to give his two cents on the whole thing.  The poker analogy is messed up.  Essentially I have been waiting about 5 days to see the last card.  The last card for our unit is good already... insurance covers it up to it with only a 1000$ deductible.  But for his apt.... arghghgh... this is where the real sweat enters....If it hits good then I will not have to pay for David's apt damage.  If it hits bad... then I will have waited 5 days for an awful bit of news.  The damage to his apt will (I suspect) be between 40,000 and 80,000 dollars.  Sting.  Please... if I have ever needed a good river card this is it.

So essentially now I just wait til Wednesday (1.5 days from now) to see what the claims adjuster says.

Oh yeah.. moral of the story... If you turn your tub on... don't forget and let it flood your house.

There was more to this story.. but it is not fun writing about it.  Suffice to say, there was also water damage (not so extreme, but real enough anyway.) in two other apts.. one right next to his, and the one beneath his.  Arhghghggh.... Oh please let the river be nice on this one...

Will fill you in later..

Til then, be good.

Phil