Who Will Win the 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship?

Published on March 6th, 2011 3:48 am EST

The second day of the 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship is now in the books, with names such as Jonathan Duhamel and Chris Moneymaker advancing to the final day of play on Sunday.

When the first match kicked off on Saturday, 32 players still had hopes of taking down the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Names such as Barry Greenstein, Daniel Cates and Tom "durrrr" Dwan fell on Day 2, leaving us with the "Elite Eight" that will be battling it out for the Championship on Sunday.

Here are the quarterfinal matchups that are set to take place on Sunday afternoon:

Clubs Bracket

Olivier Busquet vs Jonathan Duhamel

Spades Bracket

Chris Moneymaker vs David Oppenheim

Hearts Bracket

David Benyamine vs Andrew Robl

Diamonds Bracket

Vanessa Selbst vs Erik Seidel

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The most intriguing quarterfinal matchup is probably Erik Seidel vs Vanessa Selbst. Both players are extremely proficient in heads-up poker, and both players are running very hot right now. Erik Seidel has been red-hot to start 2011, as he has already banked $3,592,283 through the first two months of the year.

If Erik Seidel manages to make it through to the finals of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, then he will pass Daniel Negreanu on the all-time money list to take over the #1 spot.

Another person who is an extremely strong heads-up player is Olivier Busquet, who first made a name for himself playing as "livb112" on Full Tilt Poker. Busquet is one of the top heads-up SNG players in the world, amassing a profit of over $1.6 million on Full Tilt Poker alone.

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All eight of the surviving players are guaranteed a minimum of $75,000 for making it this far. The eventual winner of the event will take home $750,000, the runner-up will walk away with $300,000, and the #3 and #4 finishers will receive $125,000.

The final day of play in the 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship gets underway on Sunday afternoon.


Photo: GreasieWheels.com

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Filed Under: Tournament Results