NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Last Episode Today
May 17, 2009
It’s Sunday. Today is the final installment of the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. You’ll be treated to three hours of poker beginning with the round of four. In the first two hours Sammy Farha battles Huck Seed while Vanessa Rousso takes on Bertrand Grospellier for one of the two seats at the final table.
During the third hour it will be the best of three matches for the championship trophy, the jewelry and the cash, $500,000.
It all begins at 10 AM ET on NBC TV. Check TV listings for air times in your area. This is a great show for players wanting to see inside the mind of a former WSOP Main Event Champion (1996), professional poker player Huck Seed. Watch Huck Seed overpower former law student Vanessa Rousso, as they vie for the year’s worth of bragging rights to one of poker’s most prestigious events.
Enjoy today’s show and take notes for later, less than two weeks later, when we will hear the “Shuffle Up and Deal” command reverberate throughout the Pavilion signaling the start of the 2009 World Series of Poker at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino Las Vegas.
A mini-gallery of Flipchip Heads-Up photos after the jump.
Cyndy Violette hosts online poker tournament for charity
May 15, 2009
On Sunday, May 17, poker pro Cyndy Violette will host an online charity poker tournament on Full Tilt.
The event will help raise money for three causes equally: The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Special Olympics through Poker Gives.
The tournament costs $10 ($5 to the tournament and $5 to charity — Full Tilt does not take any juice) and takes place at 3 p.m. ET.
Anyone can enter to play against poker players of all levels, and you may find yourself up against some poker pros you read about (they’ll have the name highlighted in red).
To enter, login and go to the Private section. Look for tournament #91058998 (or press CTRL-T to go directly to tournament 91058998) and then enter password CHARITY.
Annie Duke Takes 2nd at NBC Celebrity Apprentice
May 11, 2009
Annie Duke maintained her composure and kept a game face on throughout the constant verbal assaults from eventual winner, Joan Rivers. Before a national TV audience on NBC TV, Annie Duke represented the poker world with her brains, total self control, extreme confidence, and never ending aggression…all are must-have talents for every successful poker player.
Remember, poker is a full mental contact sport that can reduce many of the most strong willed players into a seething cauldren of white-hot emotions. Not Annie Duke, you can call her Hitler and get nothing, not even get an eye twitch. I will always wonder how this Celebrity Apprentice competition would have gone if it had been Joan Rivers was facing Puggy Pearson across the table. It would take the age card out of play.
In Sunday evening’s Celebrity Apprentice finale the last task for the heads-up between Duke and Rivers was the organization of a money raising event that included a theme based on sponsor Kodak’s photo sharing system. Annie Duke called on the professional poker world for donations to her charity, Refugees International, while her heads-up opponent, Joan Rivers, used her Hollywood connections for cash to her charity, God’s Love We Deliver. Annie Duke raised almost a half million to Joan Rivers’ $150 K and we all know why. Poker players are some of the most generous and caring people on the planet.
But, as is often the case in any major competition the chip leader going in doesn’t always win. Even with the almost 3-1 lead in charity bucks the deck was stacked against Annie Duke. When Trump polled various people around the room you knew the script called for Joan Rivers to win. Like judges at a boxing match Trump advisers were giving the better known Rivers a 3-2 decision. Congratulations to Joan Rivers for her ability to hang tough and play a great no-fold’em game. It’s a rare event indeed when a 75-year-old female gets to hear, “You’re Hired!” Grey power ruled this day.
Congratulations to Annie Duke for playing the money raising game better than every one and giving the winnings to charity. And a big thanks for putting poker’s best foot forward.
National Heads-Up Poker Championship NBC TV Today 10 AM
May 10, 2009
Today is Sunday, May 10. Do you know what’s on the tube at 10 AM ET? It’s the Fifth Annual NBC National Heads-up Poker Championship from Caesars Palace Las Vegas. Today’s 2 hour installment is number 5 of 6. As expected, the pros with a long track record of big wins are well represented among the final few players remaining from the original 64. This proven, talent rich field typically favors the experienced and the gifted poker players.
Remember the past four champions -2005 Phil Hellmuth 11 bracelets, 2006 Ted Forrest 5 bracelets, 2007 Paul Wasicka 2nd 2006 WSOP ME, 2008 Chris Ferguson 5 bracelets - while considering your chances of winning the elites poker title. Wanna stare down one of these guys? Of course you do. That’s one of the great things about live poker. Some days the greatest players of all times can beat everything at the table except the dealer.
This is full mental contact poker played before the unblinking eyes of NBC TV and broadcast to a worldwide audience. Screw up at the Heads-Up and they’ll be laughing at you in the Gamma Quadrant. Check today’s TV listings for broadcast times in your area for the Fifth Annual NBC Natiuonal Heads-Up Poker Championship on NBC TV. Next week the series will crown the 2009 Heads-Up Champion in a 3 hour finale.
Jason Alexander Charity Poker Tournament Sat May 9
May 7, 2009
Most of the people we know like to play poker, hang out with poker stars, and rub shoulders with stars playing poker, all while enjoying a tropical locale with an ocean breeze. This weekend they will have all of these conditions in one poker room, Hollywood Park Casino Poker Room, located at the famous horse track where the movie stars from the golden age of moving pictures gathered to socialize and bet the ponies.
This weekend Jason Alexander of Seinfeld fame will lead a group of current stars to Hollywood Park Casino for his 3rd Annual Poker Tournament to benefit 1736 Family Crisis Center. On-site Registration for this charity event begins at 1 PM, May 9th, before the 2 PM start. The fast and easy way to complete details of the event plus an online registration page for the $250 seats is on-line with this link.
Your $250.00 Buy-In includes Lunch Reception, Pre-Game Instructional Play, Celebrity Players, and a Silent and Live Auction. This is a great opportunity to see and be seen with the stars of the game. Click this link for a map of Hollywood Park Casino, 3883 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles, CA.
Some of the people scheduled to attend include include Daniel Baldwin, Montel Williams, Liz Lieu, Jamie Gold, Greg Raymer Linda Johnson, Max Shapiro, Marsha Waggoner, and of course, Jason Alexander. Can we add your name to the list of stars?
Legal Online Poker a Good Bet
May 3, 2009
Efforts to legalize online poker may receive an assist from a most unlikely source, namely, the collapse of the economy. With a new administration running the country and a president that is a poker player we finally may have the political atmosphere conducive for the repeal of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). For those living in the dark on current issues UIGEA made it unlawful for credit card companies, banks, and Internet payment processors to handle monetary transfers to online gambling sites.
With the national economy in shambles the $50 billion in potential government revenues from legal online gambling is looking bigger everyday. The scrambling Washington politicos are giving this pile of rejected “soiled money” (soiled according to King George and his band of bible-thumping country wreckers) a second and maybe even a third look. With the current world interest in online gambling and especially online poker growing by the day the lost tax revenues have simply become too big to ignore for the cash starved politicians.
Our elected representatives in Washington are addicted and must have their money fixes on a regular basis so expect some good news soon concerning the return of online poker. And finally, another sign that online gambling will make a legal return is the partially empty Las Vegas resorts. Online revenues will go a long way toward filling those gaping holes in the Vegas gambling joints’ bottom lines.
Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament April 17
April 8, 2009
Jennifer Harman, the most feared woman in the world when seated at a poker table, is holding her Third Annual Jennifer Harmon Charity Poker Tournament at the Venetian Poker Room April 17 at 5 PM. Matt Savage will be co-hosting and calling the event. A great opportunity for poker players to rub shoulders with some of poker’s most colorful names while vying for a $10K seat in the 2009 WSOP Main Event plus random seat prizes, rake in pot sweetners and all players will leave with a very nice gift bag.
Jennifer Harman’s tournament is open to all players 21 years of age and up. Bring along a $330 buy-in and a stack of Franklins for the rebuys. Be prepared to have a great time while doing a really good thing for our furry companions. The event is coordinated by Greasie Wheels so expect to play with celebrities and some of poker’s best known names and faces. Registration begins Thursday, April 16, at Noon and closes Friday, April 17, at 6 PM.
The true winners of this charity tournament are the thousands of homeless animals that will receive vet care, freedom from hunger, and comfort as a result of your participation and generosity to support the Nevada SPCA with donations of money and your time. Proceeds from the Jennifer Harmon Charity Poker Tournament go to Nevada SPCA, a nonprofit organization operating a no-kill sanctuary for stray animals in Las Vegas. The Nevada SPCA Organization needs volunteers to accomplish their humane mission so volunteers are welcome. Contact Doug Duke at (702) 873-7722 or email the NevadaSPCA@aol.com and learn about other ways you can help.
