NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Premieres Sunday

The results are in the bag and now the public gets to see just how the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship shook out.

The second installment of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship premieres Sunday, April 16, at noon EST. The show runs for six episodes on NBC, with repeats throughout the week on CNBC. The final episode takes place May 21 at 1 p.m. EST.

CardPlayer.com has built a page dedicated to the Heads-Up Championship that can be found here.

A complete player's list and a link to the 64-player bracket can be found there, but for fans who want to watch the action unfold on TV without knowing who won, be warned: The bracket shows exactly how the tournament played out, including the winner, who took home $500,000 and the NBC Heads-Up trophy.

But don't worry, the name of that person won't be revealed here.

People who didn't see Phil Hellmuth win last year and aren't familiar with the heads-up format are in for an entertaining six weeks.

The players were assigned to a tournament bracket during a random drawing that took place the night before the opening day. The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship bracket looks exactly like the NCAA basketball bracket, but instead of teams, poker players are listed.

Players advance in the tournament by winning heads-up battles. If a player wins five tables in a row, the player goes on to a best-of-three match for the championship. During the first round of 64, players start with $20,000 in chips. Blinds start at $100-$200 and increase every 12 minutes.

For organizational sake, the bracket was broken up into four subcategories: diamonds, clubs, spades, and hearts. The premiere episode shows the diamond and club groupings battling it out.

The diamond bracket has Ted Forrest facing Erik Seidel, Card Player CEO Barry Shulman facing Antonio Esfandiari, Sammy Farha facing Rene Angelil, Howard Lederer facing Allen Cunningham, Mark Seif facing Michael Mizrachi, Phil Ivey facing Chad Brown, Jennifer Tilly facing Paul Phillips, and Scotty Nguyen facing Ernie Dureck.

The clubs bracket has Dan Harrington facing Todd Brunson, David Chesnoff facing Bobby Baldwin, James McManus facing Josh Lochner, Annie Duke facing Mike Sexton, Mike Matusow facing Eli Elezra, Josh Arieh facing David Williams, Freddy Deeb facing Chris Ferguson, and Phil Hellmuth facing Chip Reese.

The players sit in a kind of poker arena at specially made two-seat poker tables. Gabe Kaplan and Matt Vasgersian act as commentators for the event. The tournament was held at Caesars Palace March 4-6.

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