Poker Pros to Compete in NBC’s National Heads Up Poker Championship

Returning Champion Huck Seed, Go Daddy Girl Vanessa Rousso, Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Don Cheadle and Annie Duke are Among the Participants in this Year’s NHUPC Presented by Go Daddy.

LAS VEGAS (February 23, 2010) – The field for the 6th annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship presented by GoDaddy.com, the world’s largest domain name registrar, is flush with a who’s who of the poker world, including a dozen World Series of Poker Main Event champions, top all-time money winners, online studs, and Academy Award nominees. Poker’s most prestigious heads up tournament brings 64 of the best poker players in the world to the Caesars Palace Poker Tournament Room to compete in its distinctive, bracket-style head-to-head format for $1.5 million in combined prize money. The event will be taped for broadcast on NBC over six consecutive Sundays in April and May. The first round opponents for the brackets will be chosen at random during the GoDaddy.com Draw Party held at PURE Nightclub at Caesars Palace on Thursday, March 4. The competition begins Friday, March 5 and continues through Sunday, March 7.

“The lineup of competitors for this year’s event is the best yet,” said Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports. “Continually bringing together the best of the best to compete in this unique format has made the National Heads-Up Poker Championship one of the most anticipated poker events of the year.”

“We’ll of course be rooting for our Go Daddy Girl Vanessa Rousso,” said Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. “Vanessa is ready for another great run at this year’s 2010 Heads up tournament. She’ll definitely bring her ‘A’ game given the fierce competition.”

The entire field (alphabetical order):

• Patrick Antonius
• Eric Baldwin
• Andy Bloch
• Doyle Brunson
• Joe Cada
• Johnny Chan
• Don Cheadle
• Allen Cunningham
• Pieter De-Korver
• Annie Duke
• Tom Dwan
• Peter Eastgate
• Eli Elezra
• Antonio Esfandiari
• Sam Farha
• Chris Ferguson
• Ted Forrest
• Jamie Gold
• Phil Gordon
• Barry Greenstein
• Bertrand Grospellier
• Joe Hachem
• Gus Hansen
• Jennifer Harman
• Phil Hellmuth
• Orel Hershiser
• Jesper Hougaard
• Phil Ivey
• John Juanda
• Gabe Kaplan
• John Paul Kelly
• Phil Laak
• Howard Lederer
• Erick Lindgren
• Mike Matusow
• Jason Mercier
• Dario Minieri
• Chris Moneymaker
• Darvin Moon
• Greg Mueller
• Daniel Negreanu
• Scotty Nguyen
• Annette Obrestad
• Brock Parker
• Dennis Phillips
• Greg Raymer
• Vanessa Rousso
• Kara Scott
• Huck Seed
• Erik Seidel
• Mike Sexton
• Gavin Smith
• Jennifer Tilly
• Paul Wasicka
• David Williams
• Leo Wolpert
• Jerry Yang

ONLINE QUALIFIERS (7)

The National Heads-Up Poker Championship features 64 top poker players competing in a series of heads-up (one-on-one matches of No Limit Texas Hold’em) matches to determine the best heads-up poker player in the world. This tournament has a unique, single-elimination, bracket-style format modeled after college basketball’s championship tournament, except that the finals are the best of three. The first-place finisher receives $500,000, with second-place taking home $250,000. The viewing gallery at the Caesars Palace Poker Tournament Room is open to guests on a first-come, first-served basis.

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NBC’s television coverage:
April 18 – Noon – 1PM ET/9:00-10:00 AM PT
April 25 – Noon – 2PM ET/9:00-11:00AM PT
May 2 – Noon – 2PM ET/9:00-11:00 AM PT
May 9 – Noon – 2PM ET/9:00-11:00 AM PT
May 16 – Noon – 2PM ET/9:00-11:00 AM PT
May 23 – Noon – 3PM ET/9:00-Noon AM PT

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