$10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship Kicks Off at 3 p.m.
Welcome back to PokerNews' coverage of the 2019 World Series of Poker.
Kicking off this afternoon is Event #15: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship. The only event of its kind on the WSOP schedule, many poker players around the world wait year round for this specific event to showcase their heads-up prowess, as a plethora of familiar faces and online heads-up specialists take part in this unique bracket-style event. Last year, Justin Bonomo won the first of his two 2018 WSOP bracelets, besting a field of 114 to capture what was then his second bracelet. He later went onto to win his third in The Big One For One Drop.
Here is a breakdown of the heads-up tournaments over the years at the WSOP:
| Year | Buy-in | Entries | Champion | Earnings | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | $5,000 | 392 | Dan Schreiber | $425,594 | Mark Muchnik |
| 2008 | $10,000 | 256 | Kenny Tran | $539,056 | Alec Torelli |
| 2009 | $10,000 | 256 | Leo Wolpert | $625,682 | John Duthie |
| 2010 | $10,000 | 256 | Ayaz Mahmood | $625,682 | Ernst Schmejkal |
| 2011 | $25,000 | 128 | Jake Cody | $851,192 | Yevgeniy Timoshenko |
| 2012 | $10,000 | 152 | Brian Hastings | $371,498 | Jason Mo |
| 2013 | $10,000 | 162 | Mark Radoja | $331,190 | Don Nguyen |
| 2014 | $10,000 | 136 | Davide Suriano | $335,553 | Sam Stein |
| 2015 | $10,000 | 143 | Keith Lehr | $334,440 | Paul Volpe |
| 2016 | $10,000 | 153 | Alan Percal | $320,574 | John Smith |
| 2017 | $10,000 | 129 | Adrian Mateos | $336,656 | John Smith |
| 2018 | $10,000 | 114 | Justin Bonomo | $185,965 | Jason McConnon |
Since this is a bracket-style event, an even perfect bracket number (for example 32, 64, 128 or 256) is needed for the bracket to be completed. When the number of players in the event is a non-perfect bracket number, then a "play-in" round takes place. A random drawing occurs to see which players will partake in that "play-in" round, and which players will receive a bye into the bracket. Anyone who plays in the "play-in" round will receive half of their buy-in back and is, in essence, playing a $5,000 satellite to get into the bracket.
Registration closes at 3 p.m. PT, and at that point, it will be determined whether the bracket is set or if a play-in round will take place. PokerNews will be on hand to provide all of the details and updates.