The cards will be in the air at Caesars Palace tomorrow, as 64 of the biggest names in professional poker square off for during NBC’s seventh annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
The buy in for this year was set at $25,000, up $5K from the 2010 running. In total, $1.8 million will be awarded, with a cool $750,000 going to the winner. Making his
Making his sponsorship debut will be newly signed Friend of Full Tilt Emmitt Smith. He will be joined by several of the event’s former title-winners, including Phil Hellmuth, Tedd Forrest, Chris Ferguson, Huck Seed, and last year’s winner, Annie Duke.
Television coverage of the event is set to air every Sunday between April 17 and May 22. Commentary will be provided by Craig Hummer and Ali Nejad, with “Poker After Dark” host Leeann Tweeden covering the sidelines.
“Our viewers are in for a treat with what we can guarantee will be thrilling poker match-ups,” said NBC Sports president of programming Jon Miller. “There is no other heads-up poker tournament that can rival the skill and excitement on the tables that we bring together when the best of the best compete in this unique format.”
So who’s the odds-on favorite? Here’s a look at the full 64-player roster, listed in alphabetical order:
Jason Alexander
Patrik Antonius
Eric Baldwin
David Benyamine
Andy Bloch
Liv Boeree
James Bord
Doyle Brunson
Joe Cada
Daniel “jungleman12” Cates
Johnny Chan
Don Cheadle
Nicolas Chouity
Allen Cunningham
Jonathan Duhamel
Annie Duke
Tom Dwan
Peter Eastgate
Eli Elezra
Antonio Esfandiari
Chris Ferguson
Ted Forrest
Phil Galfond
Phil Gordon
Barry Greenstein
Bertrand Grospellier
Joe Hachem
Gus Hansen
Jennifer Harman
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Ivey
Faraz Jaka
John Juanda
Gabe Kaplan
Frank Kassela
Eugene Katchalov
Phil Laak
Howard Lederer
Erick Lindgren
Ayaz Mahmood
Thomas Marchese
Mike Matusow
Jason Mercier
Michael Mizrachi
Sorel Mizzi
Chris Moneymaker
Daniel Negreanu
Scotty Nguyen
Annette Obrestad
Dennis Phillips
Dwyte Pilgrim
John Racener
Greg Raymer
Vanessa Rousso
Kara Scott
Huck Seed
Erik Seidel
Vanessa Selbst
Emmitt Smith
Gavin Smith
Jennifer Tilly
Melburn Whitmire
David Williams
Justin Young