Forget powerhouses like Florida, North Carolina, and UCLA, in poker's version of "March Madness," the big names include Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Ted Forrest, and J.C. Tran. From March 9 through March 10, 64 players gathered at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to participate in the 2007
NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Broken into four brackets (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs), the NCAA tournament-style format featured five single-elimination rounds, and a best-two-out-of-three championship. For the 61 invited players and three qualifiers, poker's "Big Dance" offered a chance to win the
NBC championship trophy and a $500,000 first-place cash prize. Now doesn't that beat cutting down a basketball net?
Round of 64
Clubs Bracket
The tournament's opening group, clubs bracket play lasted half an hour before Shannon Elizabeth became the first to advance to the second round. In a battle of amateur versus amateur, the actress downed Celine Dion's manager/husband, Rene Angelil. While Tennessee's Lady Vols might have trouble handling the Florida men's basketball team, the female players in poker's Big Dance continued to have success, as Vanessa Rousso followed Elizabeth into round two with her relatively quick victory over Erick Lindgren.
Additional results: Jeff Madsen over Steve Zolotow; Barry Greenstein over Carlos Mortensen; Huckleberry Seed over Patrik Antonius; Chip Reese over Paul Darden Jr.; Phil Laak over Marco Traniello (heads-up qualifier); Humberto Brenes over Erik Seidel.
Spades Bracket
The spades bracket provided a duel between Joe Hachem and Chris Moneymaker. The match lasted 20 minutes, culminating with Hachem using a heart flush to eliminate Moneymaker. Two other notable victories involved Paul Wasicka and Ted Forrest. Less than 24 hours removed from a fourth-place finish at the 2007 L.A. Poker Classic, Wasicka advanced to the second round with a win over Eli Elezra, while defending NHUPC Champ Forrest took a step toward repeating by surviving against Sam Farha.
Additional results: Tuan Le over Antonio Esfandiari; T.J. Cloutier over Cyndy Violette; Sean Sheikhan over Gus Hansen; Annie Duke over Jeff Shulman; Nam Le over Greg Raymer.
Hearts Bracket
At the hearts bracket's featured table, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow built an early chip lead against Daniel Negreanu, but "Kid Poker" doubled up twice, including hitting a two-outer with pocket tens to crack Matusow's pocket queens. The Mouth eventually eliminated Kid Poker with a flopped two pair besting top pair.
Additional results: Allen Cunningham over John Michael (heads-up qualifier); Andy Bloch over Jennifer Harman; Gavin Smith over David Benyamine; Johnny Chan over J.C. Tran; Jamie Gold over Jennifer Tilly; Phil Gordon over Scotty Nguyen; Michael Mizrachi over John Juanda.
Diamonds Bracket
What would an opening round be without an upset? Actor Don Cheadle built an early chip lead over heavily favored Phil Ivey, then watched as Ivey rebounded to a 2-to-1 advantage. But the Ocean's 11 star doubled up against the poker superstar, and earned his way to the next round after his Q-J held up against Ivey's Q-8.
Additional results: Kristy Gazes over Clonie Gowen; Isabelle Mercier over Eric Larrivee (heads-up qualifier); Scott Fischman over Chris Ferguson; Brad Booth over Howard Lederer; David Williams over John D'Agostino; Gabe Kaplan over Todd Brunson; Chad Brown over Yosh Nakano.
Second Round
Clubs/Spades Brackets
The clubs bracket offered a matchup between "The Unabomber" and "The Costa Rican Shark," as Phil Laak and Humberto Brenes squared off at the featured table. Following several on-camera appearances by his shark card protector, and a couple of hugs (yes, hugs), Brenes eliminated Laak with two pair besting top pair. Along with "The Brenes & Phil Show," the clubs bracket also saw Shannon Elizabeth advance in her match against two-time
World Series of Poker bracelet winner Jeff Madsen. The
American Pie actress rivered a flush to beat pocket fives on the winning hand. Ted Forrest and Sean Sheikhan battled longer than any other clubs/spades bracket matchup. After doubling up twice, Forrest joined the "Sweet Sixteen" field when his K
5
paired a king to top Sheikhan's A
5
.
Additional results: Barry Greenstein over Vanessa Rousso; Huckleberry Seed over Chip Reese; T.J. Cloutier over Tuan Le; Paul Wasicka over Joe Hachem; Nam Le over Annie Duke.
Hearts/Diamonds Brackets
Among the early eliminations, Scott Fischman prevented Don "Phil Ivey Killer" Cheadle from notching a second high-profile upset. Fischman flopped two pair with the J
4
, and advanced to the next round when Cheadle's paired jack bricked out on the turn and river.
While Fischman dispatched of Cheadle at the feature table, Mike Matusow and Michael Mizrachi tangled in one of the bracket's longer matches. In the previous day's action, Matusow labeled Mizarachi a "spook" (an incredibly lucky player). He then advanced after rivering a straight to crack Mizrachi's flopped set of queens.
Additional results: Andy Bloch over Allen Cunningham; Gavin Smith over Johnny Chan; Phil Gordon over Jamie Gold; Kristy Gazes over Isabelle Mercier; Brad Booth over David Williams; Chad Brown over Gabe Kaplan.
Sweet Sixteen ($25,000)
Clubs/Spades Brackets
In the clubs bracket, the tournament's bona fide "Cinderella story" continued as Shannon Elizabeth pulled off a Villanova-beats-Georgetown-caliber upset over Barry Greenstein. Elizabeth built a substantial chip lead in early play, and eliminated Greenstein with a flopped full house against a rivered straight.
Paul Wasicka then became the second player to advance to the "Elite Eight," when, holding pocket queens, he called T.J. Cloutier's all-in move with pocket treys.
Nam Le ended Ted Forrest's title defense during the first heat. After doubling up twice through Forrest, Le busted the 2006
Heads-Up champion, courtesy of an A-8 holding against A-3.
At the featured table for the second consecutive matchup, Humberto Brenes utilized his usual array of good luck charms (shark card protector, "Costa Rica" jester's hat) en route to making Huckleberry Seed the final elimination.
Hearts/Diamonds Brackets
The nightcap Sweet Sixteen featured the day's most "risqué" side bet. After wagering designer Jimmy Chu shoes with her previous opponents (Clonie Gowen and Isabelle Mercier), Kristy Gazes participated in a side bet with Scott Fischman, in which the loser would buy the winner a night's worth of lap dances. In the end, Gazes earned a spot in the Elite Eight, and some quality time with Vegas' finest dancers, when her A
2
rivered the wheel to eliminate Fischman.
Gavin Smith cracked pocket aces en route to his quarterfinals appearance. Smith, after moving all in with the 10
4
on a two-heart board, eliminated Phil Gordon (A
A
) when the 5
turn completed the flush draw.
Like Gordon, Brad Booth exited thanks to a strong starting hand failing to hold up. Booth, all in with the A
K
, appeared to be in good shape to double up when Chad Brown showed the K
6
, but Brown paired a 6 on the board and ended Booth's tournament run.
Andy Bloch booked the last ticket to the Elite Eight, following a memorable match against Mike Matusow. Bloch eventually busted The Mouth, who moved all in blind on numerous occasions due to the increasing blinds, when his Q
2
held up against Matusow's 9
4
.
Elite Eight ($75,000)
Spades/Clubs Bracket
At the featured table, Shannon Elizabeth attempted her third outright upset as she faced Humberto Brenes. Having already defeated favorites Jeff Madsen and Barry Greenstein, Elizabeth advanced to the "Final Four" after her K
10
held up against Brenes' K
3
.
While Elizabeth had wasted no time in overcoming an early deficit, Paul Wasicka endured a back-and-forth contest with Nam Le. A series of lead changes included two double-ups for each player. Le's all-in wins helped him rebound from a $234,200 disadvantage, but Wasicka, who first doubled up with a rivered deuce (A-2) to crack Le's A-6, ended the match when his A
Q
paired queen bested a short-stacked Le's 9
2
.
Hearts/Diamonds Bracket
The second round of Elite Eight play saw the tournament's other remaining female player, Kristy Gazes, battle Chad Brown at the featured table. Brown built a substantial lead, and eliminated Gazes with top two pair against top pair.
Despite doubling up Andy Bloch twice, Gavin Smith won an all-in hand of his own with a flopped two pair to retake the chip lead. On the following hand, Smith's A-K held up against Bloch's A-9, and the reigning
WPT Player of the Year advanced to the semifinals.
Final Four ($125,000)
The Final Four marked the first time in the
NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship that the players from all four brackets joined together on the televised stage.
Chad Brown vs. Gavin Smith
In the hearts/diamonds bracket, Brown established a sizable lead after his trip queens outkicked Smith's trip queens. Brown maintained the lead, and used pocket aces over pocket fives to claim a spot in the championship match.
Shannon Elizabeth vs. Paul Wasicka
At the featured table, Elizabeth appeared poised to take down another high-profile opponent, as she jumped out to a 5-to-1 chip lead. With lively crowds rooting loudly for both sides, Elizabeth and Wasicka provided arguably the biggest hand of the day. All in preflop with pocket tens, Wasicka saw his lead disappear when Elizabeth's A
Q
paired a queen, but the 2006
WSOP runner-up rivered a straight to win the hand. The pair battled for another 40 minutes before Wasicka ended Elizabeth's bracket-busting run when his A
K
flopped two pair against her 6
5
.
Championship
When the two survivors of the 64-player starting field took their seats at the final table of the 2007
NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, the best-two-out-of-three contest opened with $5,000-$10,000 blinds and $640,000 stacks.
Match one began with Brown taking the chip lead, but Wasicka moved into the lead by taking down a number of small and medium-sized pots. The gap grew to nearly a 3-to-1 advantage, and even after doubling up Brown three times, Wasicka scored a match-one victory after his 8
6
call on a 6
3
3
flop held up against Brown's A
J
.
In the second match, Wasicka continued to experience success, and after building yet another sizable chip lead ($924,000 to $356,000), he ended things. On a K
10
9
flop, Wasicka called Brown's all-in reraise. Brown showed the K
4
for top pair, but Wasicka turned over the Q
J
, giving the Colorado native the hand-winning straight and the 2007
NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship title.
Brown took home $250,000 for his runner-up finish.
"This is redemption," Wasicka smiled. "I had a chance to take it down in the
World Series. I made a couple of mistakes late in that tournament, and I planned on fixing them in this one."
In his first-ever tournament win, Wasicka netted $500,000 and an event trophy. The victory, combined with his fourth-place finish at the
L.A. Poker Classic, put Wasicka's March winnings alone over the $900,000 mark.
Money aside, the
NHUPC win also meant that 2006's most famous second-place finisher deserved a new title … champion.
