NBC Heads-Up National Poker Championship at Caesars Palace Today
Phil Hellmuth plays Chris Ferguson heads-up for the Championship in the 2005 event.
Friday is here and so is the first day of elimination for the NBC Heads Up Championship at Caesars Palace. This major poker tournament is limited to 64 players including many of the top professionals. The organization of the event and the subsequent elimination rounds are patterned after the college basketball championship.
Last year's winner, Phil "the Brat" Hellmuth, will be defending his title in the second annual installment of this very popular event. In 2005 we remember watching Phil Hellmuth come back from the brink of disaster to take the title and force Chris "Jesus" Ferguson to accept being the first runner up. Who can forget the match between Jerry Buss and Daniel Negreanu or Mike Caro and Scotty Nguyen? The setting in 2005 was up-close and exciting. NBC sports filmed the namesake tournament for national broadcast and apparently they liked the rating returns so much they decided to do it again this year. This year's venue is the recently opened Caesars Palace tournament room located adjacent to the Poker Room. The Poker Room is located in the sports book area.
Daniel Negreanu and Jerry Buss moments after Daniel won the heads-up match to advance in the 2005 tournament.
I covered the Nicky Hilton New Year's Celeb/Pro event and working the plush, spacious room is a pleasure for players, fans and media.
The event is scheduled for broadcast on NBC beginning on Sunday, April 16, 2006 at Noon ET. The six episode series will run in the same Noon timeslot on Sunday. This series provides some great exposure for the sport of poker and will be one of the most watched of televised poker tournaments. I will be there for the three days the tournament is scheduled to run.
Scotty Nguyen and Mike Caro go heads-up in the 2005 event.
Phil "the Brat" Hellmuth plays Lyle Berman heads-up during the 2005 event.