photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

It's that time of year again when 64 of the world's top professional poker players come together at Caesars Palace Las Vegas to determine the best heads-up poker player for 2009. This is the fifth annual Heads-Up Championship Series and will crown a champion to join past winners Phil Hellmuth - 2005, Ted Forrest - 2006, Paul Wasicka - 2007, and defending champion Chris Ferguson - 2008.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship is formatted after the college basketball championship with 64 players invited to participate in single elimination rounds over a four day run. The players will be assigned to one of four groups - Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades - during the draw party to pair players for the first round of matches. As stated, this is by invitation only. A complete list of the 64 players for the 2009 event along with a brief explanation of how selections are made is available on the NBC Sports website.

The action begins today with a Red Carpet and draw party at PURE. Elimination matches begin on Friday, March 5, at 1 PM and continues on Saturday, March 6, and Sunday March 8 until a champion is declared. The buy-in for the event is $20,000 and the purse totals $1,500,000.

Prize Purse breakdown:

Places 9-16: $25,000
Places 5-8: $75,000
Places 3-4: $125,000
2nd place: $250,000
1st place: $500,000

The public is cordially invited to take a seat in the Caesars Palace Poker Tournament Room and watch all the excitement and action of a major poker tournament unfold before the NBC TV cameras. All of the events will be taped for broadcast on NBC TV beginning Sunday, April 12, and continuing every week for 6 weeks. A complete broadcast schedule is available after the jump.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com