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National Head-Up Kicks Off
Caesar’s Palace and NBC kicked off the National heads-Up Poker Championship
on Friday, with an event much anticipated before the real card playing
begins on Saturday. The highly entertaining pairings party, which is
sponsored by Outbacks Steakhouse and Gentleman’s Quarterly magazine, saw
Caesars throwing a great party for several hundred poker guests.
The event featured a red carpet walk that was distracting even to the
hardcore party goers of downtown Las Vegas, who stopped their hopping for a
bit to watch poker celebrities like Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan sashay
into the high limit area. The area itself was open only to VIPs and their
guests, that idea reinforced by the gargantuan bouncers standing stationary
and sporting classic Caesars Roman era regalia.
After an hour of celebrations and ice breaking, players and VIPs made their
way into the feature room for the official pairings ceremony. The place was
crowded with poker fans, the stands full and the ropes stretched as fans
strove to catch a glimpse of the action. There was barely enough space even
in the largest poker room in Vegas, including the area reserved for
tournaments only, there was barely enough breathing space for all the fans
that wanted to see their stars. The ceremony was also being broadcast by
real time telecast over the large screens in the sports book and throughout
the poker room.
Michael Matts, director of Caesars poker room, was amazed by the turnout,
and what has happened in poker. He called the event a tremendous opportunity
for Caesars.
The draw party was held to determine which bracket each player would be
going to by drawing names selected from a drum. This method has been
controversial for a couple years now, with different pro players taking
different sides according to their position. Last year’s champion Phil
Hellmuth was opposed to seeding in 2005, but now that he is top dog, he is
upset that the format hasn’t changed.
The brackets are divided into card suits- Hearts, Spades, Clubs,
Diamonds. No doubt Hellmuth has one of his lauded tantrums just around the
corner- he had the bad luck to pull the name of veteran player David “Chips”
Reese, who actually put Hellmuth out of the running in a tournament earlier
this month. The Spades bracket will include James Woods and his opponent
Scott Fischman. Hearts will see top player Daniel Negreneau play buddy
Evelyn Ng, who he claims to have been playing against recently with no luck.
Doyle Brunson quickly upped the stakes of the whole event when he challenged
any other bracket against his Hearts bracket to a side bet of $100,000.
Single elimination competition begins on Saturday morning, and the
tournament will wrap up on Monday. The event will be aired on CNBC at 8pm
EST and 11pm EST.
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