Huck Seed Wins 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship

The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship is a tournament in which luck can often play a large factor in determining the outcome of a match. Because of this, some people have called the event a series of coin flips for $500,000 among the 64 invited contestants each year. This year, one player proved that his skill as a heads-up expert defied the odds of such coin flips when he cashed for the fifth year in a row, and then he really established his domination by winning the tournament. It was a storybook journey that started with 64 players and ended with one champion.

Rounds One and Two

The field of 64 included five celebrity participants, four online qualifiers, two Caesars Palace (the host casino) qualifiers, and 53 of the best poker players in the world. The first day of action featured every match in the first round, and by the end of the night, half of the field had been sent home. The first round provided plenty of surprises. Brad Garrett was the first of three celebrities to move on to the second round when he defeated Annie Duke in the Diamonds bracket, and then Don Cheadle produced a performance that reminded many of his 2007 defeat of Phil Ivey in the first round. Cheadle defeated another feared heads-up foe in David "The Dragon" Pham to advance in the Clubs bracket. Much less surprisingly, experienced celebrity Gabe Kaplan advanced to the second round for the third time, but it was the opponent Kaplan defeated that came as a shock. He ousted defending champion and leading NBC Heads-Up money winner Chris Ferguson.

The only two players to cash in all four previous years of the event won their first-round matches once again. Huck Seed and Scott Fischman advanced to the second round, but Fischman fell short of his fifth cash by losing to David Williams. This made Seed the only player to cash in each of the five years of the event when he beat Gus Hansen to advance to the Sweet 16. All three celebrities who advanced fared much worse in the second round. Kaplan fell to John Juanda in the Spades bracket, and a focused and determined Cheadle lost to 2007 champion Paul Wasicka. Garrett was by far the most outgoing and boisterous player in the field, entertaining every fan along the rail in the process. His verbal antics were almost enough to distract Glen Chorny in the second round, but Chorny eventually defeated Garrett to advance to the Sweet 16, where only poker professionals remained.


Sweet 16 and Elite Eight

The most entertaining match of the third round of play pitted Scotty Nguyen against "the artist formerly known as Daniel Negreanu," according to NBC Heads-Up hostess Leeann Tweeden. Negreanu had dressed up as the "Prince of Poker" for his match against Nguyen. Negreanu emerged as the winner and advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time, where he would face off against Vanessa Rousso.

Rousso was riding high at the 2009 NBC Heads-Up event. She had signed a sponsorship deal to become the newest GoDaddy.com girl the day before the tournament, and was performing well with early victories over Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and Paul Wasicka. GoDaddy.com CEO Bob Parson and fellow spokeswoman Candice Michelle cheered Rousso on from the stands, along with her fiancé, Chad Brown.

David Williams vs. Sam Farha, David Oppenheim vs. Huck Seed, and Bertrand Grospellier vs. Phil Hellmuth joined Rousso vs. Negreanu on the fight card in the Elite Eight. Williams was the first player to fall when he lost to Farha less than a half-hour into their match. Williams moved all in with Q-Q-6-4-10 on the board while holding Q-6, for a full house. He was the victim of one of the worst coolers in the tournament when Farha turned over Q-10 for a higher full house to advance to the Final Four.

Oppenheim's deep run wasn't too surprising, The last-minute substitute for Layne Flack, who was arrested for a DUI the night before, had recently made the final four of the L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 heads-up event. Seed ended any hopes that Oppenheim might have had of becoming the second substitute player to win the championship (Wasicka did so in 2007) when he defeated him and advanced to the Final Four for the third time. Hellmuth experienced a quick fate similar to his first-round loss to Tom Dwan in 2008 when he went all in against Grospellier just minutes into their match. "ElkY" called him and flipped over pocket aces against the pocket queens of Hellmuth. The aces held up and Grospellier advanced to the Final Four.

Rousso continued her storybook run in the Elite Eight, and proved that Cinderella can sometimes wear a pair of boxing gloves in the process. In one of the most impressive matches of the tournament, she fast-played a hand against Negreanu to double up, and then did it again to advance to her first Final Four. Rousso discusses the most important hands of this match in this issue's Tournament Trail section of The Inside Straight.


Final Four

The Final Four featured Grospellier vs. Rousso and Seed vs. Farha to see who would advance to the championship round. Rousso once again came from behind and won her match. She doubled up twice to take the lead on Grospellier, and then finished him off. In the final hand, Rousso held pocket sevens against ElkY's K-6. Rousso made a straight, and Grospellier was eliminated in a tie for third place ($125,000).

The battle between Farha and Seed was by far the longest single match of the tournament. It featured seven pots in which one player had all of his chips at risk, and four lead changes took place. Farha was the first to double up (with aces) and take the lead. Seed doubled up next (with queens). Farha doubled up again (with A-Q dominating Seed's A-2) to take the lead back, while the blinds and antes climbed higher and higher to force the action. Seed was crippled after this hand, but he scored two quick double-ups to pull close to even with Farha. The two then got all in again, only to have a pot chopped when a straight was dealt on the board. Seed finally won the match when his 10 8 went to battle against Farha's A-K. The river brought Seed a flush, and Farha was eliminated in a tie for third place ($125,000).


Finals
There was a lot more on the line than $500,000 and one of the most prestigious titles of the year when Rousso and Seed commenced their best-of-three match to decide the champion. Seed would cement his status as the most consistent player in NBC Heads-Up history with a win, while Rousso would become the first woman to win the title after traveling a rough road to the championship by knocking off Brunson, Ivey, Wasicka, Negreanu, and Grospellier, and Seed would be a nice final conquest to add to her hit list.

Seed showed his experience and jumped out to an early lead in the first match. In the first major action between the two, Rousso bet 100,000 on the river with an A Q 7 10 4 board, and Seed raised all in. Rousso considered her next move for a tense 30 seconds, and decided to muck her hand. Seed had a solid hold on the lead, and 20 minutes later, Rousso moved all in preflop with the Q J. She soon discovered that she was dominated when Seed called and flipped up the K J. The board ran out A 9 5 6 A, and Seed won the first match.

The players took a 15-minute break and returned for the second match, which took on a serious tone as Rousso buckled down, hoping to even the score. She took a slight lead early, but Seed regained the edge and then closed out the match. In the final hand, the board came K 8 3 10 before the fireworks started. Rousso moved all in, and Seed made the call. Rousso showed the J 10, and Seed turned over the K 7. The river was the 5, and Rousso was eliminated, earning $250,000.

Seed was crowned the champion of the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and was awarded $500,000 in cash by the 2008 champion, Chris Ferguson. Seed also took home the championship trophy, and topped Ferguson as the most consistent player in the history of the event. Seed now has a record of 18-4 in NBC Heads-Up competition, the best of any player on the planet.