The 2006 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship is under way at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The 2005 event, which crowned Phil Hellmuth the champion and made him $500,000 richer, brought poker to network television. Sixty-four elite players faced off one-on-one in the innovative single-elimination tournament. The players, separated into four brackets (clubs, spades, diamonds, and hearts), battled it out one match at a time until two players were left to play a best-of-three-games match.
As we prepare for another epic battle of poker's elite, Card Player would like to revisit some of the highlights of the 2005 event.
Day One: Clubs Vs. Spades
Thirty-two players in the clubs and spades brackets competed, but the day's marquee matchup featured poker legend Doyle Brunson and his longtime friend and poker adversary Billy Baxter.
On the very first hand of the match, Brunson calmly folded pocket tens on a board of A-8-8 when Baxter led out on the flop with a relatively small bet. Baxter held 9-8 offsuit and had flopped trips. Brunson avoided overplaying his pocket pair, making an impressive read, and laid his hand down. However, later in the match it was Brunson's trademark 10-2 that sent him to the rail, and Baxter proceeded to the next round.
Meanwhile, Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren was up against Todd Brunson. In the final hand, Brunson check-raised all in, and after 30 seconds of contemplation, Lindgren called, adding, "I'm not happy with this call." Both Brunson and Lindgren had paired the board with the same high card, but Lindgren showed a better kicker and advanced to the next round.
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| 1. Sam Farha 2. National Heads-Up Poker Championship 3. Doyle Brunson 4. Jennifer Harman |
Other players who advanced from the clubs and spades brackets included Chris Moneymaker, Mimi Tran, Chris Ferguson, Gus Hansen, Mike Sexton, Sam Farha, Hasan Habib, Barry Greenstein, John Juanda, Amir Vahedi, T.J. Cloutier, Mike Caro, Henry Orenstein, and John Hennigan.
Day Two: Hearts Vs. Diamonds
The fast-paced action continued as the field of 64 was reduced to 32. Three matchups from the diamonds and hearts brackets headlined the day's action: Daniel Negreanu vs. Jerry Buss, Johnny Chan vs. James Woods, and Men Nguyen vs. Phil Hellmuth.
Hellmuth proved to be too tough an opponent for "The Master," although Nguyen had Hellmuth talking to himself by the end of the match.
Negreanu started the day with some antics by sporting a Detriot Pistons jersey – a dig at the L.A. Lakers owner whose team was defeated by the Pistons during the 2004 NBA finals. In the end, both players went all in, and Negreanu made a runner-runner straight flush at the same time that Buss made the ace-high flush. Negreanu promised to wear a Lakers jersey during round two, in honor of Buss.
Oscar-nominated actor James Woods took on two-time World Series of Poker Champion Johnny Chan. Woods held his own against Chan, although Chan had him on the ropes occasionally. The hand that turned the tables occurred when Woods made a straight, only to be bested by Chan's flush on the river. Shortly thereafter, Chan shut the door on Woods and advanced to the next round.
Also advancing to round two were Lyle Berman, Jennifer Harman, Evelyn Ng, Carlos Mortensen, Greg Raymer, Huck Seed, Paul Phillips, Josh Arieh, Ted Forrest, Antonio Esfandiari, David Sklansky, Scott Fischman, and Dennis Wager.
Day Three
The field was down to 32 players and Hellmuth faced longtime rival Paul Phillips. It was "game on" for Hellmuth when Phillips arrived wearing a Phil Hellmuth hockey jersey, clearly mocking his rival. At one point Phillips had the chip lead, but Hellmuth turned it around when he won a huge pot with a straight on the river. Phillips couldn't regain his momentum and was soon on the rail.
At the end of the day, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Scott Fischman, Mimi Tran, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Mike Sexton, Hasan Habib, Barry Greenstein, John Juanda, T.J. Cloutier, John Hennigan, Lyle Berman, Carlos Mortensen, Huck Seed, Ted Forrest, and David Sklansky advanced to the round of 16.
Day Four
On his road to victory, Hellmuth took on old friend and 1995 WSOP Champion Huckleberry Seed. Seed came out being fairly aggressive, and at one point had Hellmuth all in. Hellmuth survived, but had to regroup and battle back. Hellmuth won a big pot later on with a successful flush draw, but it only helped to even the chip count. This match would become the longest of the tournament, and admittedly the biggest challenge for Hellmuth.
The field was now down to the "Elite Eight." The matchups included Phil Hellmuth versus Lyle Berman, Antonio Esfandiari against Scott Fischman, Chris Ferguson against Mike Sexton, and John Juanda versus T.J. Cloutier.
The "Final Four" soon emerged. It was Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (who beat Sexton's pocket aces after making a flush with the Q
4) against T.J Cloutier, and Phil Hellmuth against Antonio Esfandiari. Ferguson and Cloutier had played heads up once before – at the final table of the 2000 World Series of Poker.
Day Five
It was a tough final four, and with the blinds beginning at $800-$1,600 and each player starting with $320,000, there was plenty of play.
Hellmuth entertained the crowd by routinely walking around the table and bemoaning the bad-beats and bad luck that seemed to plague him. A notable hand took place when Hellmuth raised with the J 2. He missed a straight and a flush draw after betting strongly on every street. Esfandiari continued to call him down, and won with king high. Hellmuth persevered and eventually put the finishing touches on Esfandiari shortly thereafter by flopping a set of fours on a K-4-3 board (Esfandiari had top pair with K-J), and his victory set up a classic showdown for the championship.
Two World Series champions would battle it out for the title in the best-of-three-games final match.
Game One
With the crowd at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino pavilion just a few feet from the finalists, the stage was set for an epic battle. The blinds began at $4,000-$8,000 and the two players started with $640,000 each. Early on, Hellmuth took a few small pots from Ferguson, putting himself in an early chip lead. Hellmuth collected several preflop blinds, but slow-played the hand that ended the first game. Hellmuth called Ferguson's big blind with pocket nines, and Ferguson went all in with J-5 suited. Hellmuth called, and won the hand and the game.
Game Two
Hellmuth sought to end the match early, but one hand, perhaps the most memorable of the match, put the brakes on that.
With the board showing 9-5-2-4 with three hearts, Ferguson checked, Hellmuth bet $40,000, and Ferguson raised $80,000 more. Hellmuth pushed all in, and Ferguson stopped dead in his tracks to think things over. He thought for about five minutes before calling and turned over 9-2 for two pair. But Phil had A-3 for a straight, and the A for the nut-flush draw. Ferguson needed a 9 or a deuce on the river to stay alive. And, sure enough, a 9 came, giving him a full house and more than $1 million in chips.
Hellmuth fell to the ground in disbelief. Ferguson simply grinned and shook his head. Hellmuth was crippled and couldn't recover. The two players headed to the rubber game to decide who would win the National Heads-Up Poker Championship title.
Game Three
Hellmuth made a couple of laydowns that cost him, but doubled up later when his all-in raises panned out. At one point Hellmuth had a 5-to-1 chip lead. Ferguson pushed all in with pocket deuces, and Hellmuth called with 6-4 and hit a 6 on the flop. However, Ferguson spiked a deuce on the river to make a set and double up. But just a few hands later, Ferguson pushed all in with his K-6 and Phil's pocket queens held up. Upon winning, Hellmuth ordered 15 bottles of Dom Perignon to share with the crowd. He said, "The money's great, but it's about the title, baby." 
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| 1. Phil Hellmuth 2. Esfandiari and Hellmuth 3. James Woods and Johnny Chan 4. At the table with Gabe Kaplan are the NBC NHPC officials |
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| 1. Mike Sexton 2. Ted Forrest 3. Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth was quoted in the interview as saying, "Why does it have to be this tough to win this thing?" 4. Jerry Buss and Daniel Negreanu |
