Poker Superstars
Phil Hellmuth
|
|
Chris Ferguson Wins NBC Heads-Up Championship |
 The NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship has been around for four years now. In three out of those four years, Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson has been one of the final two. In the two years before this, he's been but a bridesmaid, finishing second to both Phil Hellmuth and Ted Forrest. This year things went a little differently, and Chris Ferguson can lay claim to what is maybe one of the most important titles left in tournament poker: Nation Heads Up Champion.
Chris Ferguson's final table match up this year went to Andy Bloch, a perhaps slightly lesser known but completely dangerous player, who is famously part of the group involved in the MIT blackjack scandal. The matchup went 1 for 1, with Bloch taking down the first match when he flopped trips against Ferguson's top pair, top kicker.
Ferguson then proceeded to win two back to back. In the second match he took Block out with quad queens. In the last match his JJ held up to Bloch's massive top pair and a flush draw, thus ending out the match.
In some other, perhaps surprising results, baseball legend Orel Hershiser shocked the crowded by ending up in the quarterfinals after taking out ex-champ Ted Forrest and Allen Cunningham.
Huck Seed also ended up in the semfinals, joining Scott Fischman as the only two players to have cashed in all four instances of the NBC Heads Up event.
Broadcasts of the event will be forthcoming on NBC in the next few months, and will also be available to watch online at the NBC website.
Here's a list of how the tournament went down, taken from Wikipedia:
Round 1 matches
Jonathan Little def. Erik Seidel
Gabe Kaplan def. Patrik Antonius
Greg Raymer def. Hooman Nikzad
Scott Clements def. Kenny Tran
Mike Matusow def. Joseph Hachem
Tom Dwan def. Phil Hellmuth
Gavin Smith def. Tom Schneider
Chris Ferguson def. John Juanda
Gus Hansen def. Don Cheadle
Scotty Nguyen def. Bill Edler
Jerry Yang def. Chris Moneymaker
Phil Laak def. David Singer
Phil Ivey def. Alisha Kunze
Johnny Chan def. David Williams
T.J. Cloutier def. Dan Schreiber
J.C. Tran def. Annie Duke
Vanessa Rousso def. Antonio Esfandiari
Andy Bloch def. Shannon Elizabeth
Scott Fischman def. Todd Brunson
Jamie Gold def. Tom Kelly
Orel Hershiser def. Ted Forrest
Allen Cunningham def. Chad Brown
Sam Grizzle def. Jean-Robert Bellande
Freddy Deeb def. Paul Wasicka
Huck Seed def. Jason Alexander
Brian Townsend def. David Pham
Clonie Gowen def. Jennifer Tilly
Michael Mizrachi def. Daniel Negreanu
Barry Greenstein def. Howard Lederer
David Benyamine def. Jennifer Harman
Doyle Brunson def. Sam Farha
Erick Lindgren def. Eli Elezra
Round 2 matches
Jonathan Little def. Gabe Kaplan
Greg Raymer def. Scott Clements
Mike Matusow def. Tom Dwan
Chris Ferguson def. Gavin Smith
Gus Hansen def. Scotty Nguyen
Phil Laak def. Jerry Yang
Phil Ivey def. Johnny Chan
J.C. Tran def. T.J. Cloutier
Andy Bloch def. Vanessa Rousso
Scott Fischman def. Jamie Gold
Orel Hershiser def. Allen Cunningham
Freddy Deeb def. Sam Grizzle
Huck Seed def. Brian Townsend
Michael Mizrachi def. Clonie Gowen
David Benyamine def. Barry Greenstein
Doyle Brunson def. Erick Lindgren
[edit] Round 3 matches
Jonathan Little def. Greg Raymer
Chris Ferguson def. Mike Matusow
Gus Hansen def. Phil Laak
Phil Ivey def. J.C. Tran
Andy Bloch def. Scott Fischman
Orel Hershiser def. Freddy Deeb
Huck Seed def. Michael Mizrachi
David Benyamine def. Doyle Brunson
Quarterfinal matches
Chris Ferguson def. Jonathan Little
Phil Ivey def. Gus Hansen
Andy Bloch def. Orel Hershiser
Huck Seed def. David Benyamine
Semifinal matches
Chris Ferguson def. Phil Ivey
Andy Bloch def. Huck Seed
Final
Chris Ferguson def. Andy Bloch (2-1) |
|
