While the cameras were focused on Chris Moneymaker and Jonathan Duhamel, a big pot brewed between Erik Seidel and Andrew Robl. Seidel moved all in on the river of a board. Robl was covered and had to fold or risk his tournament life. He looked miserable as he sank into the tank. Robl's friends jumped out of their chairs, but they sat back down after watching a few minutes of Robl's agonizing. He shuffled his chips, grimaced at the double-paired, three-heart board, then shuffled some more.
Finally Robl announced a call, and the audience leapt up again. Seidel showed for treys full. Robl couldn't beat it, meaning Seidel moves into the finals for the second year in a row. Robl earns $125,000 for third place. Seidel and Chris Moneymaker are each guaranteed $300,000, so Seidel is certain to cash for more than the $250,000 he earned last year when the buy-in was $20,000 instead of $25,000. Tonight's winner will take home $750,000.
A big pot at the feature table drew our attention on the turn of a board. Jonathan Duhamel checked and called a bet from Chris Moneymaker. The river appeared to be a blank, the . Duhamel checked again and was put to the test when Moneymaker moved all in with the chip lead. Duhamel called and tabled top pair, .
Moneymaker showed down for top pair with a better kicker. MOC Jordan Siegel announced, "Chris Moneymaker moves on to the finals!" Indeed he does, and will have some time to cool his heels while he awaits the winner of Robl-Siedel.
Andrew Robl dashed off to the bathroom quickly. His opponent, Erik Seidel, took the opportunity to unfold himself from his chair and wander over to the other heads-up table. Seidel watched for a couple of minutes while comfortably resting his arms on one of the pillars decorating the set. Those pillars come up to my chin.
It looks like the battle of WSOP Main Event champions currently favors Chris Moneymaker by at least a 3-1 margin. Jonathan Duhamel is short enough that he recently opted to open-shove his button pre-flop.
"How much is it?" Moneymaker asked. We couldn't hear the response. Moneymaker puffed out his cheeks, sighed and folded.
Erik Seidel had fallen behind Andrew Robl early in their match. They saw a flop, then Seidel got his whole stack in on the turn. Robl called with to see that his flopped top pair had been out-turned by Seidel's . The on the river was uneventful and Seidel doubled up. Seidel now leads by around 5-3.
Host Leeann Tweeden has been changing outfits for each round of the tournament since each will be aired as a separate episode. For the first three rounds, she stuck to black dresses with various levels of skin and sparkles, but always covered with a shawl or sweater. This morning, Tweeden broke out of the demure attire with an elegant emerald cleavage-baring sleeveless number. But for the semifinals, she is back in mourning garb, albeit with a Vegas twist. She's now wearing a black dress decorated with black sequins that comes up to her neck and has sleeves to her elbows. Better be careful. If NBC takes too much of the sex appeal out of poker, Doyle might retire.
The semifinal matches are underway with Chris Moneymaker v. Jonathan Duhamel on the feature table and Andrew Robl v. Erik Seidel on the other. An extra row of chairs has been added on both sides of the set to allow room for more spectators. Competitors Vanessa Selbst and Greg Raymer are on the rail along with the players family and friends and plenty of poker fans.
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Chris Moneymaker (L) and Jonathan Duhamel (center right) will square off in a semifinal match.
Four rounds of play at the 2011 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship have produced four kings, one for each suited bracket. 2010 WSOP Main Event winner Jonathan Duhamel beat Melburn Whitmire, Antonio Esfandiari, Ayaz Mahmood and Olivier Busquet to come through the Clubs Bracket. Over in the Spades Bracket, 2003 WSOP Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker had to get past John Racener, Daniel Cates, Doyle Brunson and David Oppenheim.
On the red side of the ledger, Andrew Robl bested Kara Scott, Emmitt Smith, 2010 WSOP Europe Main Event winner James Bord and David Benyamine in the Hearts Bracket. And in Diamonds, Erik Seidel overcame Allen Cunningham, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon and Vanessa Selbst to secure his semifinal spot.
The tournament is now on a one-hour break. The crew will return at 3:30pm; we thus anticipate cards in the air for both semifinal matches at about 3:45pm. See you then.
Andrew Robl and David Benyamine were all in preflop and stuck waiting for Leeann Tweeden to finish filming her interview with Erik Seidel and Vanessa Selbst. Robl and Benyamine looked pretty calm, while their rails needed a few deep breaths.
Robl had a slight lead in the match and big lead in the hand. His needed to hold against Benyamine's for him to advance to the semifinals. The flop stole an out from Benyamine. The turn gave him hope for a chop. But the on the river made Robl the nuts, locking up his spot in the round of four. Benyamine takes home $75,000.
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board. Robl was covered and had to fold or risk his tournament life. He looked miserable as he sank into the tank. Robl's friends jumped out of their chairs, but they sat back down after watching a few minutes of Robl's agonizing. He shuffled his chips, grimaced at the double-paired, three-heart board, then shuffled some more.
for treys full. Robl couldn't beat it, meaning Seidel moves into the finals for the second year in a row. Robl earns $125,000 for third place. Seidel and Chris Moneymaker are each guaranteed $300,000, so Seidel is certain to cash for more than the $250,000 he earned last year when the buy-in was $20,000 instead of $25,000. Tonight's winner will take home $750,000.
board. Jonathan Duhamel checked and called a bet from Chris Moneymaker. The river appeared to be a blank, the 
. Duhamel checked again and was put to the test when Moneymaker moved all in with the chip lead. Duhamel called and tabled top pair, 
.
for top pair with a better kicker. MOC Jordan Siegel announced, "Chris Moneymaker moves on to the finals!" Indeed he does, and will have some time to cool his heels while he awaits the winner of Robl-Siedel.
turn. Robl called with 
. The 
on the river was uneventful and Seidel doubled up. Seidel now leads by around 5-3.
for him to advance to the semifinals. The 
flop stole an out from Benyamine. The 
turn gave him hope for a chop. But the 
on the river made Robl the nuts, locking up his spot in the round of four. Benyamine takes home $75,000.