Posted by Editor | Filed under 2007 NBC Heads-Up Championship, Andy Bloch, Chad Brown, Clonie Gowen, Gavin Smith, Huckleberry Seed, Humberto Brenes, Jeff Madsen, Kristy Gazes, Paul Wasicka, Phil Gordon, Shannon Elizabeth
Paul Wasicka defeated Chad Brown in consecutive matches last night to win the third NBC Heads-Up Championship. It was an impressive-looking performance, even more so because I watched from the NBC production truck so I could see all the cards. Wasicka played a very tricky game and a very gutsy game. The live updates from www.pokerwire.com and, of course, the NBC broadcasts on seven Sundays in April and May will give you a better feel of the hand-for-hand stuff. I hope the thousands of words I spent on the tournament gave you some feeling for what it was like in the tournament room, some info about the combatants, and a little of what I picked up about heads-up play. These are things from my notes that I didn’t share over the weekend, before we leave the 3rd Heads-Up Championship to history and the airwaves.
Popularity: 2% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Editor | Filed under 2007 NBC Heads-Up Championship, Andy Bloch, Gavin Smith, Heads-Up
The Gavin Smith/Andy Bloch quarterfinal pairing was a great matchup for me. Gavin was going to have another style to throw at Andy and it would be interesting see how he would handle Bloch’s approach – always raising and betting small, probing for a predictable style and adjusting. I know Andy a lot better than Gavin but he did a chapter of the book, more than enough (beyond his results) for me to have a lot of respect for how he thinks through poker problems.
Popularity: 1% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Editor | Filed under 2007 NBC Heads-Up Championship, Heads-Up, Paul Wasicka, Shannon Elizabeth
Shannon Elizabeth blew away expectations by so much that, when the end came, we had to remind ourselves that Shannon is NOT a pro, does NOT spend her days and nights playing poker online, and does NOT call the seasons ”World Series”, ”Foxwoods”, ”Aussie Millions”, and ”WPT Championship.” She played with a lot of skill and even more poise. It ended not when her luck ran out but when she entered a twilight zone of strategic tournament play she had never faced but which her opponent, a young man whose life nevertheless revolves around poker, was very familiar. Even to succumb in such deep waters, on such a grand and conspicuous stage, required a massive amount of heart.
Popularity: 1% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Editor | Filed under 2007 NBC Heads-Up Championship, Chad Brown, Gavin Smith, Heads-Up
Two of Mike Matusow‘s all-time spooks met in one of the semifinals, Gavin Smith and Chad Brown. Although Shannon Elizabeth and Paul Wasicka squared off at the same time for the other semifinal, all the action in Smith/Brown took place while Elizabeth and Wasicka were sparring.
Popularity: 1% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Editor | Filed under 2007 NBC Heads-Up Championship, Andy Bloch, Gavin Smith, Heads-Up, Mike Matusow, Shannon Elizabeth, Strategy
Full Tilt Poker‘s system crashed trying to get my avatar on the system, keeping me from playing the $400,000 Guarantee and keeping me from making updates for several hours. The semi-finals are going on right now. Shannon Elizabeth has a small lead over Paul Wasicka, and Chad Brown has a big lead over Gavin Smith. I’ll write a bit about what’s going on, as well as how they got here, but I wrote a feature while the site was down to provide some insight into the heads-up games of the players at this level.
Popularity: 1% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Editor | Filed under 2007 NBC Heads-Up Championship, Antonio Esfandiari, Clonie Gowen, Heads-Up, Shannon Elizabeth
It’s 11:15 AM as I am writing this. The broadcasters are doing their taped opening for the first two quarterfinal matches – Shannon Elizabeth v. Humberto Brenes and Paul Wasicka v. Nam Le. Shannon Elizabeth has kicked me out of my front row seat to make room for Antonio Esfandiari’s father, banishing me to the back row of the bleachers.
All part of the plan.
Popularity: 2% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Editor | Filed under 2007 NBC Heads-Up Championship, Andy Bloch, Chad Brown, Gavin Smith, Heads-Up, Humberto Brenes, Kristy Gazes, Nam Le, Paul Wasicka, Shannon Elizabeth
Today is Sunday, and there are just eight players left in the NBC Heads-Up Championship. It will be a long day ahead. I am not only ignorant of how it will turn out but how I will be covering it. But that’s part of the fun, isn’t it? Anything can happen. When it’s over, we could be crowning the first female heads-up champion. I might cover it from a table in Full Tilt Poker‘s $400,000 Guarantee.
You just never know until it happens.
Popularity: 2% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Editor | Filed under 2007 NBC Heads-Up Championship, Andy Bloch, Gavin Smith, Heads-Up, Kristy Gazes, Mike Matusow, NBC Heads-Up Championship
The second half of the third round features some amazing match-ups, both for the poker skill involved and what they represent to me personally. All eight players are wearing the Full Tilt colors. These are my comments on the matches as I dreamed them up. For the blow-by-blow and the interviews after, check out the coverage of www.pokerwire.com.
The Matusow/Bloch match turned out to be extremely entertaining, though not for reasons I could have imagined, despite knowing both men very well.
Popularity: 1% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Editor | Filed under Barry Greenstein, NBC Heads-Up Championship, Shannon Elizabeth
In the first half of the third round, Shannon Elizabeth stunned Barry Greenstein, defeating him in 34 minutes to become the first player to advance to tomorrow’s quarterfinals.
Popularity: 1% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by Editor | Filed under 2007 NBC Heads-Up Championship, Heads-Up, Michael Mizrachi, Mike Matusow
Mike Matusow just won a very tough match from Mike ”the Grinder” Mizrachi. Unlike TV matches from time immemorial, it was looking like he was getting outplayed, but this time, HE got the luck.
Popularity: 1% [?]
(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated)
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