March 04 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

While Charlie Sheen may think he has Adonis DNA, we’re sure no one would disagree with us that he has nothing on Patrik Antonius. Need proof? You can watch Patrik Antonius discuss the cash games in Macau in a recent video that was posted. On top of that, Greg Raymer was spotted all patched up on Thursday night at the NBC National Heads-Up Draw Party. Find out who’s site he’s repping and more in tonight’s Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

The Wynn Poker Classic gets under way soon and Kristy Arnett went over to the Wynn Casino to find out more about it. Check out the latest Sin City Series for more.

The World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic crowned a winner Thursday night. With a win, Carlos Mortensen would have notched his fourth WPT title. Did he do it? You can find out in our WPT recap.

Thursday night the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Draw Party was held at PURE nightclub inside Caesars Palace. Wondering what the match-ups look like? Have a look at the NBC Heads-Up bracket.

There was plenty of high-stakes action online this week at both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Want to find out who racked up the biggest pots? The Online Railbird Report has the story.

With the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship under way, we couldn’t help but release our predictions for the event. And while we all did these in the comfort of our own offices, you’ll be surprised to see that we were all on the same page – well, most of us. Find out more in NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship: PokerNews Staff Predictions.

It’s Just Vegas But Smaller

Patrik Antonius recently arrived back in Las Vegas from Macau took some time to discuss the cash games in Macau in a video interview posted by Chris Porter. Antonius went to Macau for two weeks after the Aussie Millions. He said they played HKD5,000/HKD10,000, which translates to about $600/$1,200. He went on to describe the prop bets that went on between himself, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and John Juanda, saying, “The props were maybe twice as big as the game.” You definitely want to catch this video for the inside scoop on the Macau cash games we’ve all been hearing about.

Raymer in Red

About a month ago, it was announced that Greg Raymer and his sponsor PokerStars had parted ways. Since then, there has been plenty of buzz on which site will snatch up the 2004 World Series of Poker winner.

It seems that Full Tilt Poker has done just that – at least for the NBC Heads-Up National Championship that is. Raymer was spotted on the red carpet of the Draw Party Thursday night donning the Full Tilt Poker patch on his chest. The deal is said to be a one-off and just for the event, but who knows where it will lead.

Check out the photos of Raymer on the red carpet on TwoPlusTwo.

Show Up, Get Paid

UB.com wants to pay you just for showing up at the World Series of Poker this summer. The Show Up, Get Paid promotion launched by UB begins March 6. Players have the opportunity to win their seats to the 2011 WSOP through satellites starting as low as ten cents.

“With Show Up, Get Paid we are making it even easier for our players to make their way to Vegas for the WSOP in 2011, plus there’s so many different ways for players to qualify,” Team UB’s Joe Sebok said. “The Team UB crew will be out in full force this Summer so you never know, you may wind up chatting poker with Prahlad Friedman or sharing strategy in the UB suite with Maria Ho or Eric Baldwin. Be sure to win your seat on UB and get there!”

Players who win a 2011 WSOP $12,000 Main Event package on UB will automatically bank $1,000 just for showing up at the WSOP and sporting the UB brand – yes, even if you go busto on the first hand. The longer a player lasts, the more money they get, with UB awarding up to $20,000 for a qualifier who makes it to Day 8 and if you make it to the Final Table, you could potentially pocket $1 million.

What are you waiting for? Sign up for a UB account today.

PokerStars Belgium

This week, PokerStars launched its Belgian client on a trial basis. Last year, the online poker site partnered with Circus Groupe, owners of the Casino de Spa and other venues in Belgium. Cash-game players in Belgium will only be able to play against other Belgian residents, but the tournaments will be international.

Find out more at EGRMagazine.com.

On the Red Carpet

The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Draw Party was held Thursday night at PURE inside Caesars Palace. Sarah Grant was there to catch up with some of the players to find out who they would be playing. While Kara Scott’s date, Maria Mayrinck, called her a cheapskate, Scott insists she’s a good date. Also, Sarah caught up with Gus Hansen, who has a bold prediction about who will win.

Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

March 05 2011, Elissa Harwood

The annual NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship is unlike any other tournament on the calendar. Put the game’s brightest stars, a few that are fading, and a handful of celebrities in a heads-up turbo sit-n-go in Las Vegas, throw in television cameras, and add a healthy dose of prop betting and you get three days full of bad beats and bracket busters with some poker thrown in. With the buy-in up to $25,000 this year, there is serious money on the line, but all 64 of the entrants are there to enjoy the experience and the exposure. Even Phil Hellmuth didn’t pout much when he was eliminated.

Day 1 featured four brackets of 16 players each. Fan favorites Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu failed to advance, while Tom Dwan, Doyle Brunson, Chris Moneymaker, and Patrik Antonius all earned spots in the Round of 32. It was a bad day for the actor/poker player. Jason Alexander, Don Cheadle, and Jennifer Tilly were all eliminated. Emmitt Smith carried the celebrities, upsetting David Williams. With both satellite qualifiers out, Smith is the only amateur poker player remaining.

The long day began with the Diamonds Bracket’s eight pairings. One of the toughest match-ups of the day, Erik Seidel versus Allen Cunningham, could have been a battle to the death. Instead, it was over almost as soon as they sat down. Seidel, last year’s runner up, flopped two pair and held against Cunningham’s straight and flush draws to take the first spot in the round of 32. Mike Matusow and Greg Raymer kicked things off on the feature table, where Raymer efficiently silenced the Mouth. Peter Eastgate dispatched fellow WSOP Main Event winner Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, who reached the finals in three of the NBC Heads-Up Championship’s previous six years. Vanessa Selbst abused Eli Elezra, and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond ran over Joe Hachem.

Huck Seed has the best record in the NBC event, cashing in five of the previous six years. But this year, Seed couldn’t get passed Jennifer Harman in Round 1. Phil Gordon joined Harman in ruining brackets when he upset Thomas “Kingsofcards” Marchese. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and satellite qualifier Justin Young were still trading chips long after the rest of the Diamonds matches had wrapped. Finally Grospellier picked up kings and put the final nail in Young’s coffin.

The Clubs Bracket was up next with some of the day’s liveliest (certainly liv-liest) matches. Scotty Nguyen arrived late and left early. The Prince of Poker made it to the semi-finals in 2010, but this year he only lasted a few hands against Barry Greenstein. Annette Obrestad was out almost as quickly when her flush draw bricked against reigning WSOP Heads-Up Champ Ayaz Mahmood’s trip aces. In an entertaining feature-table duel, Liv Boeree bested actor Jason Alexander, but not before trading plenty of television-ready witticisms. A few feet away, Olivier “LivB” Busquet outlasted Dwyte Pilgrim, setting up Day 2′s battle of the Liv Bs.

Also in the Clubs Bracket, Jason Mercier defeated 2006 Heads-Up winner Ted Forrest. Antonio Esfandiari worked some runner-runner wheel magic to delight the crowd and roll past EPT Grand Final winner Nicolas Chouity. After a slow start, current Champion of the World, Jonathan Duhamel, made quads, flopped a flush, and spiked a set to wear out tenacious qualifier Melvin Whitmire. While they were battling, Andy Bloch and John Juanda were hard at work saying “all in.” Finally Bloch won two in a row to move on and make way for a new group.

In the Hearts Bracket, Michael “the Grinder” Mizrachi quickly eliminated 2009 runner-up Vanessa Rousso. Phil Laak beat Daniel Negreanu’s queens, then flopped a set against his top pair to bring the feature table match to a swift conclusion. WSOPE Main Event winner James Bord took out WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela with little fanfare. Kara Scott was slated to play David “Viffer” Peat, but at the last minute found herself falling to Andrew Robl instead. Gavin Smith treated the afternoon like a party and was already well into the celebration by the time he beat Gus Hansen. David Benyamine busted an unusually quiet Phil Hellmuth, leaving two Hearts matches still going.

It took Tom Dwan several attempts to eliminate actor Don Cheadle, but he eventually got the job done. David Williams showed up sporting an Emmitt Smith jersey. Smith was kind enough to sign it after repeatedly sucking out on Williams to the raucous cheering of his entourage and the groans of many a prop bettor.

The Spades Bracket brought up the rear, and the deck saved its cruelest coolers for last. Faraz Jaka flopped top and bottom pair and called all in before everyone had settled in their seats. Unfortunately for the WPT Player of the Year, his opponent, Eugene Katchalov, had flopped middle set to end the day’s shortest match. Moments later, Phil Ivey found himself all in with an eight on a flop. But Daniel “Jungleman12″ Cates showed up with an unbeatable to give his frequent online foe a live smack down. The coolers continued when Dennis Phillips hit top set and crippled Erick Lindgren, who had flopped two pair. Lindgren fought back for awhile but to no avail.

Late lineup additions Sam Trickett and Carlos Mortensen are both known for running well, so their beats were particularly devious. Trickett was poised to end the match with a flopped straight against the Matador’s two pair, but Mortensen filled up on the river to stay alive. The best hand never won a showdown, and finally, Mortensen rivered Trickett to the rail. Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin succumbed to David Oppenheim, and Patrik Antonius out-flipped Sorel Mizzi. John Racener and Chris Moneymaker stuck to small ball until Racener’s top pair collided with Moneymaker’s flopped straight. And finally, on the feature table, Doyle Brunson brought the curtain down on Jennifer Tilly.

After a long Round 1, players in the Diamonds and Clubs Brackets will return to Caesars in Las Vegas for Round 2 at 1:00 p.m. PST on Saturday. By Sunday morning, we’ll be down to just eight.

Here are the Round 2 match-ups.

Diamonds Bracket

Bertrand Grospellier v. Phil Galfond
Vanessa Selbst v. Peter Eastgate
Jennifer Harman v. Erik Seidel
Greg Raymer v. Phil Gordon

Clubs Bracket

Olivier Busquet v. Liv Boeree
Jason Mercier v. Andy Bloch
Barry Greenstein v. Ayaz Mahmood
Jonathan Duhamel v. Antonio Esfandiari

Hearts Bracket

Andrew Robl v. Emmitt Smith
Gavin Smith v. James Bord
Phil Laak v. Michael Mizrachi
Tom Dwan v. David Benyamine

Spades Bracket

Doyle Brunson v. Dennis Phillips
Daniel Cates v. Chris Moneymaker
Carlos Mortensen v. David Oppenheim
Patrik Antonius v. Eugene Katchalov

To keep your bracket up-to-date, make sure you follow us on Twitter and be sure to follow all the action from the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship on our Live Reporting Page.