Posted by Editor | Filed under 2010 NBC Heads-Up Championship, Andy Bloch, Annie Duke, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Erik Seidel, Greg Raymer, Gus Hansen, Heads-Up, Huckleberry Seed, Jennifer Harman, Mike Matusow, Paul Wasicka, Sam Farha
By consensus vote, Friday’s second first-round bracket, Diamonds, had the most talent and the most difficult match-ups. Barry Greenstein, 5-0 in the first round, faced Vanessa Rousso, last year’s runner-up. Annie Duke, though never a threat in the HUC, drew Andy Bloch, in a match that promised to pit not only friends but similar styles. Others in the bracket included the occasionally cursed Sam Farha, Jennifer Harman, Mike Matusow, 2007 champion Paul Wasicka, Gus Hansen, and Greg Raymer. (Hansen and Raymer were matched against each other.)
The highlights of the second bracket in Friday’s first round, Diamonds, generally followed the same pattern as the Clubs bracket. Jerry Yang – like first-round victors Moneymaker and Gold – is a lightly-regarded amateur Main Event champion. But he beat Mike Matusow to move to the second round. Matusow played a savvy match, but to no avail when he got a call from Jerry on his raise with pocket kings, kept Yang’s 6-4 in the hand when a four came as part of an eight-high flop, but then got terminally stuck when a six made his opponent an improbable two-pair.
In a match with several features in common with Seed-Seidel earlier, Annie Duke defeated Andy Bloch to make the second round for just the second time in six years. While Andy has one of the best records in the HUC (8-3), Annie is 1-5.
To me, this should have been the featured match. Andy and Annie are both very smart and very well known. Although Andy Bloch is somewhat quiet at the table, he frequently displays his sly sense of humor, especially with people he knows. He and Annie are good friends, partly because they have both donated and raised, over the last several years, seven-to-eight figure amounts for charity. Wouldn’t that play well on TV?
Apparently not as well as Sam Farha and Antonio Esfandiari. When someone asked me what criteria they used to pick Sam and Antonio over Andy-Annie, I said, “They figure out who is the most popular … in 2005.” I really thought that, by any definition, Duke and Bloch would make better TV. Farha, a great heads-up performer who nonetheless seems slightly cursed in the HUC, made quick work of Esfandiari, who was a magnetic presence in the 2005 Championship but has now lost five consecutive first-round matches.
Meanwhile, Bloch and Duke played a GREAT match. Theirs was a clinic of savvy moves and countermoves – an undocumented HUC classic. As if to additionally taunt NBC for keeping them off the main stage, Annie’s winning hand also featured the kind of drama TV adores as the climax to a hard-fought match. Annie with the chip lead and T-T, got it all-in against Andy’s K-Qs. Bloch hit a king on the flop and it looked like he would take over control of the match … until Duke hit a ten on the river.
The instant, unexpected end had everyone in shock for a moment. That is, until Mike Matusow, at the next table, piped up sarcastically, “When does Annie ever hit a card like that?”
There were, however, two exceptions to the HUCs doormats prevailing. First, Barry Greenstein defeated Vanessa Rousso. It was a very tough first-round match for both players. Vanessa, who represents presenting sponsor GoDaddy.com, was last year’s runner-up. She also lost to Greenstein in the second round in 2007. When Barry won, it made him the only player to win his first-round match in all six HUCs.
That’s really hard and deserves some recognition. It is also worth noting that Greenstein had some quality first-round opponents:
2005 – def. Lee Salem
2006 – def. Cyndy Violette
2007 – def. Carlos Mortensen
2008 – def. Howard Lederer
2009 – def. Blandon Bines (online qualifier)
2010 – def. Vanessa Rousso
Second, Jennifer Tilly lost her fifth consecutive first-round match. But in fairness to Jennifer, there were extenuating circumstances. She had the misfortune of drawing Jennifer Harman in the first round. Harman is not only an excellent heads-up competitor but, on a day where the cosmos seemed determined to make up for past slights, showed up “with my army and this ammunition on my back.” (Credit: Alanis Morissette, “Right Through You”) Although the enemy in the Alanis lyric was “Mr. Man,” Tilly would do fine.
Harman has historically underperformed in the HUC, but in the first year a beloved pet died the night before her match. She had to cancel the next year because her father passed away only hours before her match. Since then, she drew Allen Cunningham and David Benyamine in consecutive first rounds. Last year, she beat Greg Raymer for her first HUC victory but lost to Kenny Tran in the second round.
If Jennifer Tilly gets invited back, she is a lock to win in the first round no matter how talented her opponent. But on Friday, she just got stuck on the wrong side of Fortune’s bracket.
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Loading ...3 Responses to “#980 – 2010 NBC Heads-Up Championship #6 – Day of the Dog, Part III”
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Jack Says:
March 12th, 2010 at 12:09 amHey. Thanks for this post. I cruise alot of blogs just to see what I can find. I liked this write up you did and was just wondering if you have a subscriber page so I can link to it so I can read it at a later date? I did not see one – am I just overlooking it?
Jack
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sedat Says:
March 18th, 2010 at 4:31 pmthis is very good poker blog.. thank you very much..
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popzpaul Says:
March 28th, 2010 at 5:15 ami think the hold thing is a shame they let the 1 they want to win win
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