$20,000 Heads-up Championship
Day 3 Completed
2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
$20,000 Heads-up Championship
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
Buy-in
$20,000
Entries
64
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Seed's road to the championship started in the Diamonds Bracket, where he drew Jonathan Little as his first round competitor. Seed won that match going away and was the first player from Diamonds through to the second round, where he squared off against Gus Hansen. He beat Hansen there and Glen Chorny in the third round to make it to the quarterfinals that started earlier today.
Seed's quarterfinal match was over inside of fifteen minutes after he and Oppenheim got all the chips in the middle on a coin flip. Seed's pocket eights bested Oppenheim's ace-queen to reach the semifinals, where he drew the always-tough Sammy Farha. Farha and Seed played an epic match that stretched to roughly two-and-a-half hours and featured as much drama as one could hope for in a heads-up match.
To win the championship, Seed needed to get by Vanessa Rousso, the player who consistently drew the toughest matches in every round of the championship. Rousso faced, and dispatched, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, 2007 National Heads-Up Champion Paul Wasicka, Daniel Negreanu and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier. There's not a soft spot in that lineup.
Seed, however, was able to handle the dangerous Rousso with seeming ease, slowly chipping up against her in each of the finals matches and then leaning on her when the blinds were big and Rousso's stack was short. He played masterful poker for three days and is deserving of the title of champion.
That concludes our coverage from Caesars Palace. Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to join us for our next stop on the tournament circuit, the 2009 World Series of Poker Circuit event at Caeasar's Atlantic City on March 12.
Good night!
, which they both checked.The turn came
and brought a half-pot bet of 30,000 from Rousso. Seed deliberated thoughtfully and then re-raised to 130,000, putting the short-stacked Rousso to the test. She took her time, then made a back-handed waving motion and announced she was all in. Seed wasted no time in calling. He rolled over 
for top pair of kings. Rousso showed 
for a turned pair of tens. With Seed already up 1-0 in this best-of-three match, Rousso needed to improve on the river to stave off elimination.With the gallery all pressed around the table, MOC Jordan Siegel announced, "Here's the river!" The dealer burned and turned the
, a card that did not help Rousso. She was eliminated, and with that elimination Huck Seed was crowned the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Champion.
. Seed fired out for 85,000, folding Rousso after twenty seconds.Blinds are now up to 15,000 and 30,000.
board, Vanessa Rousso and Huck Seed checked the 
river in turn. Rousso showed 
, then disgustedly flung her cards towards the dealer when Seed rolled over 
, having made a pair on the river.
We apologize for the confusion. As far as we're concerned, this is a welcome change, as it gives the finalists a bit more "play".
. It was a great call, as Seed had Rousso's 
dominated. The board rolled out 
, giving Seed the pot and the win in the first match.The tournament is on a fifteen-minute break before the second match in this best-of-three final kicks off.