The semi-finals of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship are set from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. After two and a half grueling days of play, the final four have been determined. Two members of Team PokerStars Pro will battle it out, as Vanessa Rousso will take on Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. Also, Huck Seed will face off against Sam Farha.
Vanessa Rousso‘s Las Vegas experience began on Thursday night, when she was named the newest Go Daddy Girl. Rousso, who appeared in last month’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, joined Danica Patrick and original Go Daddy girl Candice Michelle as endorsers of the site. She bested 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and industry icon Doyle Brunson in the first round of play. She then defeated Phil Ivey, who many consider to have the top all-around poker skills in the business. After sinking Ivey’s ship, she ended the National Heads-Up Championship run of Paul Wasicka, the runner up in the 2006 WSOP Main Event to Jamie Gold. On Sunday, Rousso advanced to the Final Four with a win over fellow Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu.
Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier is one of only three players to hold titles on the World Poker Tour (WPT) and European Poker Tour (EPT), taking down the 2008 Festa al Lago and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). Two months ago, he won the PCA’s High Roller tournament for $433,000, beating Canadian Will Molson heads-up. Grospellier’s ride to the semi-finals in Las Vegas began with a win over Fred Collins in the opening round. From there, Grospellier defeated young gun Ilari Sahamies, who made his debut on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” during Season 5, which kicked off last week and continues tonight at 9:00pm ET. Grospellier then trumped 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event winner John Juanda. In the quarterfinals, he bested Ultimate Bet’s Phil Hellmuth, who holds the record for the most number of WSOP bracelets won at 11. Grospellier now faces Rousso.
Sam Farha‘s loss during the 2003 WSOP Main Event to Chris Moneymaker will go down as one of the most significant events in poker history. Moneymaker grabbed $2.5 million for the win and propelled amateur players to poker rooms around the country and online. Farha is a two-time bracelet holder, having captured hardware in 1996 as well as ten years later in 2006. Farha defeated Full Tilt Poker pro Allen Cunningham heads-up in the opening round. In the round of 32, he beat Peter Eastgate, the youngest WSOP Main Event winner ever. Farha then went onto beat John “The Razor” Phan and Bodog pro David Williams to reach the semis.
Farha’s opponent will be Huck Seed, the 1996 WSOP Main Event champion. Since his landmark victory 13 years ago, Seed has gone on to win two additional bracelets to bring his grand total to four (he also won a Pot Limit Omaha tournament in 1994 for his first piece of hardware). Seed got past online poker pro Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little in the opening round. He then defeated Gus Hansen in the second round. In the Sweet Sixteen, Seed triumphed over reigning EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final champion Glen Chorny, who was making his National Heads-Up Poker Championship debut. David Oppenheim was his victim in the round of eight. Seed also made the semi-finals last year in the event, falling to Andy Bloch.
Players making the final 16 were guaranteed at least $25,000 in earnings from the $1.5 million prize pool. Here is a breakdown of the payouts so far:
Places 9-16: $25,000
Paul Wasicka, Scotty Nguyen, John Juanda, Tom Dwan, Glen Chorny, Kenny Tran, John Phan, and Erick Lindgren
Places 5-8: $75,000
Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, David Oppenheim, and David Williams
The two losers of the semi-final match-ups will receive $125,000. The runner up in the tournament pockets $250,000, while its winner takes home $500,000.
Stay tuned for the latest from the National Heads-Up Poker Championship!
