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#352 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #3 – Diamonds bracket preview
I think this bracket has the best round 2 “teases”. Huck Seed v. Brian Townsend? The winner of Greenstein/Lederer v. the winner of Benyamine/Harman? The winner of Farha/Doyle v. Lindgren/Elezra?
Round 1 – Diamonds bracket
Jason Alexander – Huckleberry Seed: Could be the match with the greatest height disparity, though Lederer v. Greenstein is close. Seed, I think, has finished in the money in all three years of this event, and he played well enough to advance past Humberto Brenes last year – where is Humberto? – but wasn’t treated well by the deck. Alexander, however, was on the short list of people suggested to play me in the Andy Beal TV movie being pitched in Hollywood, plus he called Seed “Huckles” last night. Nah, that shouldn’t be enough to deny Seed his fourth opening-round victory, though I give Jason a legitimate shot at an upset.
David Pham – Brian Townsend: I think Brian Townsend is going to win this bracket. That said, David Pham is one of the best tournament NLHE players in the world so it would shock no one if he didn’t make it past the first round. But I like his chances.
Clonie Gowen – Jennifer Tilly: The prettiest match of the day. I’m recklessly, hopelessly in love with both women, to no consequence to anything but my ego, so I couldn’t possibly pick a winner. It would be like choosing which child I like best, or which fantasy lover who wouldn’t sleep with me if I was the last man on earth – okay, maybe if I was the LAST – I like best.
Daniel Negreanu – Michael Mizrachi: This match could be a real treat. Daniel should bust out and go deep one of these years and it could be this one. Michael proved himself an awesome talent by taking down PLO at last year’s Series over one of the toughest final tables in history. [Subsequent note: giant gaffe on my part here. It's not that a can't tell the brothers apart. I simply thought that Robert, on the strength of his incredible showing in the PLO at the Series, had moved beyond "Grinder's brother" and he was the one in the field. Obviously, Michael Mizrachi is an awesome talent. My point, though I messed up the names, is that his brother is also an awesome talent. That's just not relevant here because Michael's the one in the field. Sorry about that.]
Barry Greenstein – Howard Lederer: Great matchup. These men are two consummate professionals who treat each other with respect, but there is also more than the usual amount of pride at stake, even if they denied it. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say these men look at each other and consider the following: Howard’s skating by on a reputation over-reliant on a year of tournament results that’s about 5 years out of date; Barry couldn’t beat Andy Beal; Howard’s heads-up ability has been blown out of proportion; Barry thinks he’s never lost a hand, never been outplayed, never made a mistake. In short, these are two of the most formidable players in the world and I believe each wants to expose the flaws in the other. Purely out of Full Tilt bias, I pick Howard. I just hope the quality of the match lives up to how I see it in my mind’s eye. I also predict they’ll exchange only about 20 words, but they will be words worth repeating.
David Benyamine – Jennifer Harman: David’s a great talent, notwithstanding how I busted him from the first FTOPS event. But it’s Jennifer’s time.
Sam Farha – Doyle Brunson: Sammy’s probably thrilled he didn’t draw Ted Forrest. But I think Doyle Brunson has one more trick up his sleeve.
Erick Lindgren – Eli Elezra: Intriguing match up. I kid with Eli about picking him to win every tournament I see him in, but he’s had some great success. Wild, aggressive recreational/businessman player who has put in as much time in the biggest games in the world as anyone and therefore has learned from the best. But Lindgren is due to one year take this whole thing. He’s sporting the Michael Craig doo, so this could be that year.
