The partnership between the EPL and The Poker Channel will allow the league’s 70 hours of recorded for television tournaments to be broadcast to approximately 30 million satellite and cable homes throughout the European continent. The EPL will make its debut in Europe on The Poker Channel beginning on January 15 (check local listings for exact times) over such networks as Sky in the United Kingdom, Martens in Germany and Canal Digital in Finland. In the United States, the EPL has already secured broadcast rights on the cable channel Velocity and on the regular airwaves on CBS.

Both sides are thrilled to bring the EPL events to a new audience overseas. “Expanding our television coverage into Europe is a step forward for building a global fan base for Epic Poker,” stated Katherine Kowal, the Vice President of League Operations and Programming for the ownership behind the EPL, Federated Sports & Gaming. “Poker Channel Europe, with quality distribution and broad reach, will help us introduce our content to a very important market and audience.”

“With the incredible success of Epic Poker League’s first three events and high quality production, they are a great partner for the Poker Channel,” echoed Chris White, the Director of Business Development for The Poker Channel’s owners, Gaming Media Group. “We’re proud to bring this unique format featuring the world’s best players to millions of Poker Channel viewers.”

Two of the three EPL tournaments have already been fully broadcast in the United States. The inaugural event, a $20,000 Six Handed No Limit Hold’em tournament, brought out 137 of the biggest players in the game. In the end, poker professional David “Chino” Rheem was able to vanquish veteran Erik Seidel to take down a $1 million first place prize. That final table also included such notable names as Jason Mercier, Hasan Habib, Gavin Smith and Huck Seed.

The second tournament, a $20,000 Eight Handed No Limit Hold’em tournament, was highly competitive despite only drawing a field of 97 players. Seidel became the first player to make two final tables on the burgeoning professional circuit, eventually finishing fourth, while “young gun” Mike McDonald emerged as the champion over David Steicke and Fabrice Soulier.

The third tournament, a $20,000 “Mix-Max” No Limit Hold’em event, has yet to hit the airwaves. In the best two of three heads up final (and the longest final table in the EPL’s young history), Chris Klodnicki eventually defeated Andrew Lichtenberger for the crown. Joe Tehan, Michael Mizrachi and Scott Clements also made the final table action.

The third EPL event is set for broadcast in the United States beginning in February. Velocity will have three hours of the early action on three consecutive Friday evenings in February (the 10th, 17th and the 24th), while CBS will broadcast an hour of the tournament on February 26.

The fourth tournament on the EPL schedule, which was supposed to have been played in February, has been postponed until later in the spring due to the plethora of tournaments internationally early in 2012, and the League Championship event, featuring the top 27 points earners from the first four tournaments, will occur after the rescheduled fourth event.

The Poker Channel’s addition of the EPL continues to make them the “worldwide leader” when it comes to televised poker events. Already broadcasting such programming as “High Stakes Poker,” the World Series of Poker, the European Poker Tour and the World Poker Tour, the Epic Poker League seems like a natural extension of their already popular poker offerings.

The original schedule for the Main Event, which is still displayed on the WSOP’s official structure sheet, was for the final table to run from November 5th through November 7th.  Now, everything has been moved back one day, with the final table starting on Sunday, November 6th at 11:30am PDT.  Then, instead of taking a day off and bringing back the two finalists, they will take a day off and resume the final table at 5:00pm with the final three players.

All of this is being done so that ESPN can better cover the event.  The entire final table will be broadcast virtually live, with just a 15-minute delay.  The action will be shown, complete with hole cards and commentary, on both ESPN and ESPN2, as well as online at ESPN3.com.  This is very similar to how ESPN covered the rest of the Main Event, the main difference being that the previous days of the tournament were shown with a 30-minute delay.  The coverage generally received very positive reviews from the poker community, with people enjoying the commentary of Lon McEachern, David Tuckman, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, and Olivier Busquet.  It is unknown at this time who will be announcing the final table, but it would not be surprising if it was this same group, or at least a subset of it, along with special guest commentators.

Main Event coverage continues tonight on ESPN from 9:00pm to 11:00pm EST, as the sports network shows part three of Day 7 with the final 32 players compete for their spots in the November Nine.  New episodes will air the next two Tuesday nights, as well.

Aside from the Main Event, ESPN only aired three other events this summer: the special “Rematches” heads-up battles, the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up event, and the $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship.  This is actually an increase from 2010, in which only two preliminary events were shown: the $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship and the non-bracelet Tournament of Champions.  The downward trend in preliminary event broadcasts began in 2008 when ESPN cut them to seven from ten.  In 2009, the number of preliminary events was slashed to three, with only one of them even being a bracelet event.

The World Series of Poker on ESPN is one of the few poker television shows still on the air in the United States, along with the World Poker Tour, which is carried by GSN.  Since Black Friday, the two major poker television sponsors, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, have not had enough money to fund poker programming (Full Tilt has disappeared entirely), spelling the demise of several shows.  NBC just announced that the National Heads-Up Poker Championship would not be played in 2012; NBC’s Poker After Dark (sponsored by Full Tilt) and Fox’s Big Game (sponsored by PokerStars) have also been cancelled.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the deal with CBS is a “time buy,” in which FS&G pays the network to broadcast the tournaments.  This eliminates the risk for the network while giving the Epic Poker League the national exposure that it desires.  Most poker shows, the Full Tilt-sponsored “Poker After Dark” on NBC for example, have used this sort of arrangement to get on the air in recent years. But time buys are drying up, as the two online poker rooms that paid for the programming, Full Tilt and PokerStars, have had to cut back significantly since the April 15th indictments by the U.S. Department of Justice (and since the end of June, Full Tilt has been completely out of business as the result of it’s gaming license getting suspended).

The deal with Velocity is called a “promotional barter,” according to the Wall Street Journal, in which, rather than FS&G paying the network, the show is simply broadcast for free, with neither entity paying the other.  The Epic Poker League gets the television time and Velocity gets a new show for its fledgling network.

The Velocity Network, expected to launch on September 25th, is billed as a network for “upscale men.”  According to Velocity senior vice president Robert S. Scanlon, “In the same way that a car once defined the person who drove it, Velocity will define the viewer who watches it.  Whether you are a car aficionado or just someone who prefers fast-paced, high-stakes television, Velocity will become a must-have entertainment destination.”

Scanlon said that the Epic Poker League, “is a natural fit for Velocity and the upscale male audience that we’re courting.”

The Epic Poker League, led by chief executive Jeffrey Pollack (formerly of the World Series of Poker) and Commissioner Annie Duke, is a league in which poker players must qualify for membership through live tournament success.  Players can earn two, three, or five year membership cards through a combination of recent and lifetime results, which include certain numbers of “major” tournament titles, minimum levels of recent tournament earnings, and minimum thresholds for career earnings.  The membership roster currently includes over 200 players, but more can always qualify as they rack up tournament wins and cashes.

The first event is slated to kick off on August 5th with a Pro/Am at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.  The $20,000 Main Event will be held August 9th through August 12th and will see $400,000 added to the prize pool.  Below is the complete Season One schedule for the Epic Poker League.

Event 1: Pro-Am – August 5-8, 2011; Charity Tournament – August 8, 2011; Main Event – August 9-12, 2011
Event 2: Pro-Am – September 2-5, 2011; Charity Tournament – September 4, 2011; Main Event – September 6-9, 2011
Event 3: Pro-Am – December 9-12, 2011; Charity Tournament – December 11, 2011; Main Event – December 14-18, 2011
Event 4: Pro-Am – January 27-30, 2012; Charity Tournament – January 29, 2012; Main Event – February 9-12, 2012
Championship: February 13-14, 2012 (No Pro-Am or Charity Tournament)

Unlike in previous years, tonight’s episodes do not represent the first televised broadcast of this summer’s World Series of Poker.  ESPN and ESPN2 aired more than 30 hours of play from the Main Event starting on Day 3, Thursday, July 14th, while ESPN3.com had even more.  The coverage was “semi-live,” trailing half an hour behind the live action.  Hole cards were shown on a limited basis at two “featured” tables; they were never shown if the hand did not reach a flop and were only shown when the hand ended if a flop was seen.  Commentary during the “semi-live” broadcasts was provided by Lon McEachern, Norman Chad, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Hellmuth, David Tuchman, and Olivier Busquet.

The episodes from now through the Main Event final table will be the edited, more polished shows that poker fans are used to from ESPN.  They will almost certainly cater more to the casual poker fan and feature a very high proportion of “action” and all-in hands, personal interest stories, and camera time for well-known pros.  Unlike the “semi-live” broadcasts, there will not be much, if any, air time given to hands that never get to a flop, and we definitely won’t have to watch the full ten minutes of Matt Giannetti deciding whether or not to call Ben Lamb’s four million chip river bet on Day 8.

This will be the third year in a row in which barely any preliminary events will be seen.  In 2007, ESPN broadcast ten preliminary events, cut it to seven in 2008, but then slashed that number to just three in 2009.  In that year, only one of those preliminary events – the $40,000 Special Anniversary Tournament – was even a bracelet event.  The other two were the WSOP Champions Cup Invitational and the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament.  There were just two preliminary events shown last year: the $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship and the non-bracelet Tournament of Champions.

This year, aside from the Main Event, only three other events will be televised: the special “Rematches” heads-up battles, the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up event, and the $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship.  ESPN’s telecast will run from 8:00pm ET through 10:00pm ET every Tuesday night through September 27th and will be pushed back an hour from October 4th through November 8th.

The complete ESPN television schedule for the 2011 World Series of Poker is as follows:

July 26 – 8:00pm – Rematches: Johnny Chan vs. Phil Hellmuth
July 26 – 9:00pm – Rematches: Chris Moneymaker vs. Sammy Farha
August 2 – 8:00pm-10:00pm – $25,000 Heads-up No-Limit Hold’em
August 9 – 8:00pm-10:00pm – $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship
August 16 through September 27 – 8:00pm-10:00pm – $10,000 Main Event
October 4 through November 1 – 9:00pm-11:00pm – $10,000 Main Event
November 8 – 9:00pm-11:00pm – $10,000 Main Event Final Table

The network will air more than 35 hours of the Main Event between July 14-19 as the starting field of 6,865 trims down to nine. There are currently 1,864 players still vying for the $8.7 million first-place prize. The 30-minute delay coverage on ESPN2 (and simulcast on ESPN3.com) will only include hole cards after the flop. There will be two feature tables, and coverage will shift between the tables every 30 minutes. However, any “all-in and call” situations on the outer table will be included in the broadcast.

“This is a historic milestone for ESPN and the WSOP,” WSOP executive director Ty Stewart said in a press release. “The addition of live event-style coverage with hole cards in July and primetime shows leading up to the crowning of a champion in November provides our fans more access than ever before, and we are extremely proud to be with a company dedicated to realizing the potential of the game.”

Lon McEachern and David Tuchman will handle the play-by-play duties of the telecasts, with poker pros such as Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Olivier Busquet, and Brandon Adams rotating into the commentary booth to provide analysis. The lovely Kara Scott will be reporting from the sidelines.

The live coverage will pave the way for ESPN’s regular Tuesday night WSOP telecasts, which begin July 26 and run weekly until a main event champion is crowned Nov. 8. McEachern and Norman Chad will remain hosts of the coverage on ESPN.

While the new same-day coverage is exciting for poker fans, there have been some concerns from some players regarding the security involved in the broadcast for such an important tournament. Because the action is only 30 minutes behind, players could potentially have friends “scout” opponents and provide useful information that they wouldn’t normally have.

ESPN has assured everyone that it has taken extreme measure to ensure that players will be protected from any dishonest behavior. Stewart said the Players Advisory Council and the Nevada Gaming Commission were consulted as the coverage plan was put together. One major rule set in place is that there will be no cell phones or PDAs allowed in the sequestered area. That goes for players and the ESPN staff.

“All of those folks who have access to the hole card feeds have been background checked and approved by gaming, and there will be heavy security and surveillance,” Stewart said.

Here’s a look at the complete WSOP Main Event schedule on ESPN (all times Eastern):

Thursday, July 14 (Day 3)
3-7 p.m. — ESPN3.com
7-9 p.m. and 11 p.m.-2:30 a.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

Friday, July 15 (Day 4)
3-7 p.m. — ESPN3.com
7-9 p.m. and 11 p.m.-2:30 a.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

Saturday, July 16 (Day 5)
3:30-10 p.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com
Midnight-2:30 a.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

Sunday, July 17 (Day 6)
3-8 p.m. — ESPN3.com
10 p.m.-2:30 a.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

Monday, July 18 (Day 7)
3-7 p.m. — ESPN3.com
7-10 p.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com
Midnight-2:30 a.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

Tuesday, July 19 (Play-down day)
3-8 p.m. — ESPN3.com
8-10 p.m. — ESPN/ESPN3.com
Midnight-4:30 a.m. — ESPN2/ESPN3.com

For those who haven’t seen the PokerStars Big Game before, here’s the basic premise: Five of the world’s top pros and most successful businessmen face off in a high-stakes cash game with a $100,000 minimum buy-in and blinds of $200/$400/$100 ante. They’re joined each week by a “Loose Cannon,” an online qualifier who is given a $100,000 stake to play against the big boys (and girls). Loose Cannon qualifiers can keep whatever they win above their initial $100,000 stake at the end of the week, and the most profitable Loose Cannon of the six-week series will win a prize package worth $50,000.

Last year, Loose Cannon Bobby “The Bus” Ferdinand won $181,500 during his magical week on the show, surpassing David Fishman with just a few hands remaining to win the $50,000 North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Passport. Fishman set the previous record for highest profit by a Loose Cannon by winning $129,600, but Ferdinand picked up pocket aces against Peter Jetten’s pocket kings with just seven hands remaining to win a massive life-changing pot.

Season 2 promises much of the same excitement. In addition to the daily show, at the end of each week there will be extra footage available online, including ribald moments in a section dubbed Too Hot For TV, bonus hands that didn’t make the final cut, and the statistics of each game, including each player’s profit/loss, amount of hands played and aggression levels, and player biographies.

“It’s great news that fans can watch the newest season of The Big Game on PokerStars.tv,” said Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu. “There are some amazing hands this season, some crazy drama as usual, and a few Loose Cannons who played surprisingly well. You can catch all of the episodes starting Monday, June 27.”

The first Loose Cannon, ironically named Gonzales Cannon, faces off against four tough pros and a former hoops star when Season 2 kicks off on Monday. Here’s the first week’s full lineup:

Seat 1: Gonzales Cannon (Loose Cannon)
Seat 2: Bobby Sura (former NBA superstar)
Seat 3: Daniel Negreanu
Seat 4: Scott Seiver
Seat 5: Tony G
Seat 6: David ‘Viffer’ Peat

Other pros taking part in Season 2 include Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Vanessa Selbst, Prahlad Friedman, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, and current WSOP world champion Jonathan Duhamel, plus many more. There are also appearances from Hollywood film director Nick Cassavetes and billionaire Cirque du Soleil creator Guy Laliberte.

The PokerStars Blog has a few teasers from Season 2, including a hand in which Tony G angle-shoots Phil Hellmuth into believing that he hasn’t looked at his cards. Check out the action here.

Watch Part 1 and Part 2.

Liebert bluntly summarized the fallout from Black Friday, which occurred on April 15th and saw the U.S. Department of Justice indict 11 members of the industry, including the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker: “It seems pretty clear that Full Tilt, PokerStars, UB, and Absolute Poker are not going to be operating in the U.S. for the immediate future.”

Liebert forecasted, “The poker industry is going to be hurt by this. The brick-and-mortar tournaments… are going to be hurt because people count on the online sites to get them in cheap. There were 3,000 entries [in the Main Event] from online entries last year, so there’s going to be a big drop in the Main Event of the World Series.”

We’ve heard estimates as low as 2,500 for this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event attendance, although our guess is around 5,500.

Moreover, players who rely on sponsorship deals in order to play in five-figure tournaments like the Main Event may find their coffers dry. Liebert explained, “I can’t imagine the Red Pro deals will remain in effect when there are no online sites for people to play on, so that’s going to hurt those people who would normally play in the World Series and be sponsored.”

The Department of Justice indicted 11 individuals on counts that included operating an illegal gambling business and bank fraud. Liebert gave her take on the accusations: “The Department of Justice’s job is to go after crime. They have indicted the people that were involved in these sites. They believed they were committing a crime and that’s why they got shut down… If you look at the indictments, there are a lot of things on there that, if proven to be correct, were the wrong things to do and it cost us all.”

What about Howard Lederer? The Full Tilt Poker front man has been noticeably absent from the poker scene since Black Friday. Liebert admitted she was surprised that Lederer’s name was not listed on the indictments: “There was a Bluff Magazine article recently that listed Howard Lederer as the most powerful man in poker. Why is he so powerful? Is it because he is a poker player? Is it because he’s big? I think it was fairly widely assumed that he had a lot of power in Full Tilt.”

This week, PokerStars began processing cashouts for players from the United States. Meanwhile, Full Tilt Poker inked an agreement with the Department of Justice to regain its domain in order to process U.S. payments, but has not begun doing so. Absolute Poker and UB.com, which make their home on the CEREUS Network, have not yet solidified an accord with the U.S. Government.

“I’m not really worried about getting my money back,” Liebert confidently told viewers of “The Showdown.” She continued, “I have money on all three of those sites… I think it’s very likely I will get it… I don’t have my whole bankroll online, so it’s not going to affect me as much. If it takes a year, it’s too bad, but it doesn’t affect my lifestyle or my ability to play these tournaments, whereas unfortunately for some of my friends, it does affect them.”

New episodes of “The Showdown” are released every Tuesday on Poker News Daily.

The Spades bracket included a feature table match-up between Jennifer Tilly and DoylesRoom front man Doyle Brunson. Tilly’s boyfriend, Phil Laak, was railing her in earnest and she admitted National Heads-Up Poker Championship cameras, “The thing about heads-up is you always have to be putting the chips out. You can never relax.”

The first all-in and call involved Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who pushed with 9-4 on a board of 4-9-8-A for two pair. However, PokerStars pro Eugene Katchalov had him dominated with pocket eights for a set and Jaka was the first departure from the Spades bracket. Both Jaka and Katchalov were making their National Heads-Up Poker Championship debuts.

Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi and Erick Lindgren fell by the wayside in the Spades bracket. Also exiting was UB.com pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, who moved his chips into the middle before the flop with Q-J only to run into David Oppenheim’s K-Q. A flop of K-3-10 gave Oppenheim a sweat, but the board filled out J-3 and Baldwin was eliminated.

Carlos Mortensen, the World Poker Tour’s all-time money leader, hit the river hard during Sunday’s telecast on NBC. He drew out on the final card three times, the third of which cost Sam Trickett his tournament life. Trickett was all-in before the flop with A-9 against Mortensen’s Q-10. The board of 6-K-K-J left Mortensen clamoring for a nine or ace on the river to make a straight and, sure enough, a bullet ended Trickett’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship run.

John Racener was the second-to-last elimination of the bracket and Tilly followed suit after pushing pre-flop with K-2. Brunson looked down at J-10, made the call, and promptly flopped a 10 to take a lead he would never relinquish. Just like that, the first hour of the broadcast was complete.

The second hour began with action from the Clubs bracket, where the featured pairing was Liv Boeree against “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander. The latter warned, “My game is on fire.” Seated at the secondary feature table were World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit terror Dwyte Pilgrim and Olivier Busquet. The former barked, “The fundamentals ain’t gonna win you the tournament. The heart is gonna take you over the top.”

Alexander was the first elimination after his pocket queens could not withstand Boeree’s A-6 of hearts. The actor fell to 0-2 in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, while Boeree advanced to the round of 32 in her debut in the invitation-only tournament.

Busquet ultimately relegated the chirpy Pilgrim to the rail after Pilgrim’s 9-5 could not suck out on K-10 of clubs. Elsewhere in the makeshift Caesars Palace poker room, Ted Forrest was bounced after moving all-in with J-9 on a 10-Q-A flop for an open-ender against Jason Mercier, who held Q-4 for middle pair. A jack and a 10 fell on the turn and river, respectively, punching Mercier’s ticket to the second round.

Meanwhile, European Poker Tour Grand Final winner Nicolas Chouity moved all-in pre-flop with pocket jacks against Victory Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari. “The Magician” held Big Slick and we were off to the races. Esfandiari was drawing to a wheel on the river, which hit when a five landed on the board to advance him to the second round for the first time since 2005.

Finally, reigning WSOP Main Event winner Jonathan Duhamel doubled up twice through Caesars Palace qualifier Melvin Whitmire before finally taking out the amateur with pocket fours against K-Q. Duhamel found a set on the flop after previously doubling up with the nut flush and quads.

The final 30 minutes of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship broadcast were devoted to the Diamonds bracket, where all eyes were focused on Mike Matusow and Greg Raymer.

You can catch action from the round of 32 this Sunday at Noon ET on NBC. Check your local listings for more details.

“High Stakes Poker” features former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Norm Macdonald providing commentary, while PartyPoker pro Kara Scott conducts interviews from the floor of the makeshift Bellagio poker room.

In one of the first major pots of Saturday’s one-hour episode, PokerStars pro Barry Greenstein raised to $5,100 with A-K before the flop and Julian Movsesian, holding pocket queens, 3bet to $25,400. Greenstein moved all-in for $72,200 and, as has been the case with pots involving Movsesian, the board was run just once. After the community cards came 7-7-2-A-10, Greenstein raked in $146,000 in chips.

Then, Mike Baxter, who made his presence known last week by running over the eight-handed table, put in a continuation bet of $50,000 on a flop of J-9-6 holding A-Q for ace-high. Haralabos Voulgaris made the call with pocket kings and the turn was a five. Both players checked to a seven on the river. And, rather than bet, both players checked once again, sending the $168,000 pot to Voulgaris with an overpair.

The next hand shown also featured fireworks. Phil Laak, who had been quiet up to that point in the episode, raised to $5,100 with pocket aces and Bill Perkins, down a quarter of a million dollars entering yesterday’s play, called from the straddle with A-7. The flop came 9-10-5, all hearts, and Perkins, holding the nut flush draw, checked.

Laak fired out a bet of $9,000 and Perkins check-raised to $30,000. Laak responded by moving his stack in for $83,800 and Perkins called all-in to set up a $179,000 pot. The turn and river were run twice. The first board was safe for Laak, as no heart fell, but an eight of hearts on the second turn card chopped the pot.

By the time the episode had neared its conclusion, Voulgaris was up an amazing $319,000, while Perkins was down about the same amount. Perkins had been the table’s ATM throughout most of his stay on the show and proved that he was willing to mix it up with just about any two cards.

In one of the final hands of the episode, Baxter min-raised to $1,600 with Q-9 and Jason Mercier re-raised to $4,400 with K-10. Perkins called behind with K-Q and Baxter came along to see a flop of A-K-K. Two players had made trip kings in the hand and Mercier led out for $8,600. Perkins called behind with a better kicker and the turn was a three.

Mercier pushed out $20,100 in chips when the three hit and Perkins swore multiple times before shoving all-in for $71,600. Mercier, who was most likely not influenced by his opponent’s Hollywooding, called to build a $175,000 pot.

The river was run twice, with Mercier drawing to two outs each time. No upset was in store, as a nine and a four came to ship the $175,000 pot to Perkins, who doubled up.

Next week, an all-new lineup will be seated. It includes Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Doyle Brunson, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Johnny Chan, and businessmen Bill Klein and Robert Croak.

GSN changed the air times of “High Stakes Poker” as a result of the legal troubles of PokerStars. You can now catch new episodes on Saturdays at 11:00pm ET on GSN.

Last week’s one-hour episode featured action from the round of 64 in the hearts bracket, with one of the highlights being PokerStars pro David Williams facing off against the NFL’s all-time rushing leader, Emmitt Smith. The former running back told National Heads-Up Poker Championship floor reporter Leeann Tweeden, “I’m just here trying to compete.”

Each player began with 25,000 in chips and the blinds kicked off at 150-300. Williams originally sported a Cowboys jersey in honor of Smith, but later ditched it for a Charlie Sheen shirt. Then, the 2010 NFL Hall of Fame inductee dropped a pot worth 9,000 after raising pre-flop with 7-2 suited.

Vanessa Rousso, the field’s GoDaddy ambassador, was all-in with J-8 on a flop of 3-10-J for top pair against Michael Mizrachi, who held Q-J and had her out-kicked. The board filled out 2-K and Rousso was the first elimination of the day in the hearts bracket.

At the feature table, Daniel Negreanu 3bet all-in on a flop of 4-5-6 with 9-6 for top pair. However, Phil Laak had him trumped with pocket fives for a set and, upon seeing Laak’s hand, Negreanu told the crowd, “I’m out.” The turn was a deuce and the river was a 10, sending Negranu away. Laak has an impressive 6-0 first round record in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

PartyPoker pro Kara Scott was the victim of a straight on the river to exit stage right courtesy of Andrew “good2cu” Robl. Scott got her money in with J-10 pre-flop against Robl’s 10-8, but the board ran out 7-9-K-9-J to given Robl the miracle straight and punch his ticket to the second round.

2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year Frank Kassela headed for the rail after pushing with 10-2 on a flop of J-J-10 with two diamonds against WSOP Europe Main Event champ James Bord, who showed 8-6 of the suit for a flush draw. The ace of clubs on the turn kept Kassela ahead, but the three of diamonds on the river ended his title hopes and gave Bord a flush.

Elsewhere in the makeshift Caesars Palace poker room, Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen committed his chips with 9-8 on a flop of K-6-8 for middle pair. However, fellow Full Tilt pro Gavin Smith had him beat with K-3, which held when a jack and a deuce filled out the board.

While the battle between Williams and Smith waged on, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth was all-in pre-flop with ducks against David Benyamine’s A-4. Benyamine found an ace and a four on the flop and there was no set to come for Hellmuth, who was poised for a rematch with Tom “durrrr” Dwan if both had advanced out of the first round.

Speaking of Dwan, he had actor Don Cheadle all-in before the flop with K-2 and held A-J of diamonds. The better hand stood strong and Cheadle was cast away in the first round, setting up a second round confrontation between Dwan and Benyamine.

To round out the action, Williams was all-in on a board of 2-6-9-5 with 10-9 for top pair against Smith, who held Q-6. Sure enough, Smith’s five-outer hit on the river and Nejad exclaimed, “What just happened?” Smith signed Williams’ Cowboys jersey and that was all she wrote for the kickoff episode of the 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Two hours of coverage will be shown on Sunday on NBC beginning at Noon ET. Doyle Brunson against Jennifer Tilly and “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander against Liv Boeree are just two of the matches you can look forward to. Check your local listings for more details.