David Singer Wins Full Tilt $25K Heads-Up ChampionshipPockets $560,000 for Defeating Elite Field |
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David Singer may have gone out in the first round of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHUPC) in March, but he lasted all six rounds in the Full Tilt $25K Heads-Up Championship to take down the $560,000 top prize last night. That’s more than the he would have won for taking down the NHUPC ($500,000), anyway, and also more than the winner of last year’s heads-up championship at the World Series of Poker ($425,954).
An elite field of 64 entrants bought in for $25,000 apiece, the highest buy-in heads-up tournament ever to be held online. The event, hosted by reining NHUPC Champion Chris Ferguson, started on Saturday and concluded on Sunday, and it featured a venerable who’s who of poker, including both online and live pros. The Full Tilt-sponsored, red-named pros who played in the event included Ferguson, Singer, Andy Bloch, Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Gus Hansen, Howard Lederer, Brandon Adams, David Benyamine, David Oppenheim, Huck Seed, Nick Schulman, Nenad Medic, Steve Zolotow, Erick Lindgren, Eli Elezra, Gavin Smith, Max Pescatori, Brian Hastings, Peter Feldman, Peter Jepsen, and Taylor Caby. Full Tilt pros made up more than a third of the field.
Also in attendance were Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius, Jeff “ActionJeff” Garza, Isaac “the guru 11” Baron, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Chris “Genius28” Lee, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Cory “UGOTPZD” Carroll, and many other notable players too numerous to mention.
Eight places paid in the event, and, after three rounds of heads-up matches had been completed, the final eight players were Bloch, Hastings, Singer, Antonius, Card Player Pro trainer Dani “Ansky451” Stern, Emil “whitelime” Patel, mischiefofmagic, and Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver. All eight were guaranteed at least $96,000 for having lasted that long. Round 4 saw the end of Antonius, Stern, mischiefofmagic, and mastrblastr. Once down to four, play ended for the night on Saturday to resume on Sunday.
The final four was comprised of three red-named Full Tilt pros. Two of those pros, Singer and Hastings, faced off, and Singer ultimately took down the final pot to make it to the sixth and final round of play. In the other matchup, Bloch, who finished as runner-up to Ferguson in the most-recent NHUPC, wouldn’t repeat his spot in the finals when Patel (pictured at right) took him out. Bloch and Hastings earned $168,000 apiece.
Singer then went head to head versus Patel, and Singer defeated his sixth straight opponent to take down the huge first-place payday of $560,000. Patel left the final match with a very respectable $320,000 for second place.
Those interested can watch events like these on Full Tilt’s software for free, and they can also take advantage of a Full Tilt deposit bonus from Card Player.