Once again the 64 player field at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship is divided into four separate brackets –think NCAA Basketball’s March Madness brackets for a frame of reference—and now that the field is finalized, the first round matchups have been released.
Below are the matchups, along with my picks for the winner in each separate bracket:
The Diamonds Bracket
- Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier vs. Justin Young
- Joe Hachem vs. Phil Galfond
- Vanessa Selbst vs. Eli Elezra
- Peter Eastgte vs.Chris Ferguson
- Huck Seed vs. Jennifer Harman
- Erik Seidel vs. Allen Cunningham
- Mike Matusow vs. Greg Raymer
- Thomas Marchese vs. Phil Gordon
Obviously the most intriguing matchup here is the Mike Matusow vs. Greg Raymer match, due to their history from the 2004 WSOP Main Event. However, this bracket is something of the “group of Death” as it contains no celebrities and the only players you could argue who don’t belong in the field are Raymer and Phil Gordon.
I like ElkY coming out of this bracket.
The Clubs Bracket
- Dwyte Pilgrim vs. Olivier Busquet
- Liv Boeree vs. Jason Alexander
- Jason Mercier vs. Ted Forrest
- Andy Bloch vs. John Juanda
- Barry Greenstein vs. Scotty Nguyen
- Annette Obrestad vs. Ayaz Mahmood
- Jonathan Duhamel vs. Melburn Whitmire
- Nicolas Chouity vs. Antonio Esfandiari
The matchup I’m most looking forward to in this one is Annette Obrestad taking on WSOP Heads-Up Champion Ayaz Mahmood, but I’m sure the cameras will focus on the Barry Greenstein vs. Scotty Nguyen match.
In this bracket I’ll take Olivier Busquet.
The Hearts Bracket
- Kara Scott vs. David “Viffer” Peat
- David Williams vs. Emmitt Smith
- Gavin Smith vs. Gus Hansen
- James Bord vs. Frank Kassela
- Phil Laak vs. Daniel Negreanu
- Michael Mizrachi vs. Vanessa Rousso
- Don Cheadle vs. Tom Dwan
- Phil Hellmuth vs. David Benyamine
This is the Bracket of Personalities: Gavin Smith vs. Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu vs. Phil Laak and Phil Hellmuth vs. David Benyamine; not to mention the bloodbath match of the tournament in Tom Dwan vs. Don Cheadle!
I’m going to take David Williams in the Hearts Bracket.
The Spades Bracket
- Doyle Brunson vs. Jennifer Tilly
- Erick Lindgren vs. Dennis Phillips
- Daniel Cates vs. Phil Ivey
- John Racener vs. Chris Moneymaker
- Carlos Mortensen vs. Sam Trickett
- Eric Baldwin vs. David Oppenheim
- Patrik Antonius vs. Sorel Mizzi
- Eugene Katchalov vs. Faraz Jaka
A few intriguing matchups in the Spades Bracket include Phil Ivey vs. Daniel ‘jungleman12’ Cates, Patrik Antonius vs. Sorel Mizzi and my pick for match of the tournament in Eugene Katchalov vs. Faraz Jaka. Perhaps more interesting is the potential match in the Sweet 16 of Sorel Mizzi vs. John Racener!
I’ll take the hot hand in the Spades Bracket and go with Sam Trickett FTW!
Related Posts
- A Look at the 2011 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship - February 24, 2011
- Tom Marchese is Card Player Player of the Year - December 29, 2010
- Sorel Mizzi Faces New Cheating Accusations - February 21, 2011
Written by Steve Ruddock on March 4th, 2011