Tom 'durrrr' Dwan has just defeated Barry 'Bear' Greenstein to earn a spot in the Round of 16.
All of the money found its way into the middle on a board showing and Greenstein had a slight lead, holding against Dwan's . Dwan stole the lead away from Greenstein on the turn when the rolled off the deck and the river blanked, giving the checkmark to Dwan.
Should Phil Hellmuth win his match against Caesars qualifier Jeffrey Ishbia, Dwan and Hellmuth would face each other in an epic rematch a little later on this evening.
It was a battle of internet superstars on Table 2, with Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier squaring off against Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies. Grospellier wins this round and advances to the Third Round. He put Ziigy all in preflop and was called. Grospellier turned over a pair of deuces; he was up against Sahamies' . The board ran our no help for Sahamies, . Grospellier, one of the biggest names to ever come out of internet poker, will return later in the evening to face the winner of the Kaplan-Juanda match.
This post is just to confirm that our internet is still working here in the Caesars Palace Pokers Room. The only sounds in the room, other than a few muted conversations taking place in the gallery, are of the timers going off at each table, indicating that it's time to move the blinds up to 600 and 1,200. Expect the action to pick up.
Daniel Negreanu is hamming it up for the cameras at the feature table, but the other tables are fairly dull. Phil Hellmuth was all in on the turn earlier against Jeff Ishbia. Ishbia surrendered his hand (and the chip lead) without further action.
Cards are in the air for the second half of the Round Two matches. Daniel Negreanu and Dario Minieri are on the feature table. As a reminder, starting stacks are 40,000, starts blinds are 300 and 600, and levels are fifteen minutes.
The first round of matches here on Day 2 are officially complete. Of note, Huck Seed became the first and only player ever to have cashed in all five seasons of the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championships. Erick Lindgren secured his first ever cash in the event after five tries, while NBC Heads-Up rookie Glen Chorny has locked up a cash in his first attempt.
Here's a preview of tonight's Round of 16 action in the 'red' half of the bracket:
Hearts Bracket
Erick Lindgren v. David Williams
John Phan v. Sammy Farha
Diamonds Bracket
Kenny Tran v. David Oppenheim
Huck Seed v. Chorny
Action is scheduled to resume at 4:00 p.m. local time, when the Clubs and Spades Brackets take to the felt. We'll see you then!
Scott Fischman's streak of four consecutive cashes at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship has come to an end. He open-shoved from the button as the short stack with . David Williams found pocket fours in the hole and made the call. The board on the turn offered Fischman some hope -- it came . Fischman was he only player with a spade. He could improve to the best hand with any spade except the , any king, any eight and any six. The river, however, was a , eliminating Fischman one round away from the money.
Williams will face Eric Lindgren in the next round.
Fan favorite Brad Garrett has just been eliminated from the tournament by PokerBattle Warrior Glen Chorny.
Chorny put Garrett all in before the flop holding and a short-stacked Garrett made the call with offsuit (one of them was a spade, though we're not sure which).
"Offsuit... My favorite, luckiest hand!" joked Garrett. "Jack, jack, nine!" he pleaded. "I'm so overly medicated."
David Williams and Kenny Tran meandered over to the table as the dealer spread a flop giving Garrett all kinds of outs.
"Nelson, I will give you the golden shower of your life (if you put a spade out there)," Garrett said to the dealer. "I've paid my dues... I did musical theater!" he added.
The came on the turn, stealing a few of Garrett's outs and the fell on 5th Street, locking up the match for Chorny.
Chorny will play against Huck Seed in the Round of 16 later tonight.
Jennifer Harman will have to wait until at least next year for her first-ever cash in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. She moved all in after Kenny "Sick Call" Tran raised from the button. Tran called with pocket jacks against Harman's .
Things took a turn for the interesting on a two-spade flop of . "Did I call a seven-eight-nine flop or what?" exclaimed Tran. With that flop, a ten would give Harman a chop. She picked up additional chop outs with the turn card, but the board paired eights on the river to send Tran through to the Third Round matches later this evening.
Tran was the Heads-Up champion at the 2008 World Series of Poker. He will draw last-minute substitute David Oppenheim in the next round.