Jul 04, 2017 He created and produced the National Heads-Up Poker Championship for NBC sports and worked on remote and studio coverage of NBA, NASCAR, and the Olympics. It was when he moved to ESPN that he gradually became a known face in sports broadcast. He started as a senior producer and grew to be the vice president of original programming and production. Dec 07, 2019 Besides his success at the World Series of Poker, Matusow has also competed and cashed in at many other events, some of which included World Poker Tour, the National Heads-up Poker Championship, the Aruba Classic and the Wynn Classic. Additional to this, he has also competed in High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark, winning once.

Not matter where you stand on the political spectrum, most poker players and fans will agree that Mike Matusow is one of the pioneers of the game of poker. On this week's PokerNews Podcast Episode #414, we were delighted to welcome Mike 'The Mouth' Matusow. Be sure to check that out here.

During the Podcast interview, Matusow shared that winning the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship was one of his proudest moments. With five WSOP bracelets and a litany of poker accomplishments, this win had particular significance to 'The Mouth.'

So, for this week's ThrowBack Thursday, we dug up the winner interview from that event with former PokerNews' hostess Kristy Arnett. Matusow shares how he knew he would win, even if it might sound crazy and why he was particularly happy to end up playing against Phil Hellmuth.

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Video: https://www.pokernews.com/video/nbc-national-heads-up-poker-championship-2013-mike-matusow-w-7450.htm

National Heads Up Poker

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National Heads-Up Poker Championship
Created by	NBC Sports
Narrated by	Ali Nejad and Matt Vasgersian
Country of origin	United States
Production
Production location(s)	Golden Nugget Las Vegas (2005), Caesars Palace (2006 - 2013)
Running time	60 minutes (including commercials)
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	2005 – 2013 (no 2012 event)
External links
Website

The National Heads-Up Poker Championship was an annual poker tournament held in the United States and produced by the NBC television network.^[1] It is a $25,000 'buy-in' invitation-only tournament^[2] organized as a series of one-on-one games of no limitTexas hold 'em matches. The participants include many of the world's most successful poker players, as well as celebrities.

The championship was the first poker event to be televised on and produced by a major U.S. television network.^[1]

In October 2011, NBC announced that the National Heads-Up Poker Championship would not return in 2012, ending the championship's seven-year run.^[3] After a one-year hiatus, the tournament returned for a final time in 2013.^[4]The $25,000 buy-in event ran from Jan. 24 through 26 at Caesars Palace, the same venue where the event was held from 2006 through 2011.

In February 2014, NBC announced the National Heads-Up Poker Championship would not return in 2014.

The Heads-Up Championship had been sponsored by online poker companies before Black Friday. The World Series of Poker (WSOP.com) is the new presenting sponsor.^[5]

Structure[edit]

The single-elimination tournament is modeled after college basketball tournaments. Players who win a match advance to the next round; the player who wins six matches is crowned champion.

The first round is seeded randomly the night before the tournament begins. Players are divided into four brackets – Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades. A participant advances by winning a heads-up match against his or her randomly drawn opponent. The structure of the brackets then determines every match thereafter. The semifinals consist of one player from each bracket, with the winner of the Spades bracket playing the winner of the Clubs bracket, and the winner of the Hearts bracket matched up against the winner of the Diamonds bracket. A best-of-three final match then determines which of the two finalists is crowned champion.

Brief history[edit]

The National Heads-Up Poker Championship is an invitation-only event. In contrast, the World Heads-Up Poker Championship is an open event with a maximum participation of 128 players.

The 2005 event took place at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas between March 4 and March 6. It aired weekly on NBC from May 1 to May 22 with commentary from Gabe Kaplan and Matt Vasgersian.

The 2006 edition took place from March 4 to 6 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. NBC began its coverage by broadcasting one part of the opening round on April 16. The semi-final and championship matches aired May 21. Kaplan and Vasgersian returned as commentators.

The 2007 edition was broadcast from April 8 to May 20. Ali Nejad took Gabe Kaplan's spot as commentator due to Kaplan competing in the tournament.

Results[edit]

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Best-of-three final score
2005	Phil Hellmuth	Chris Ferguson	2–1
2006	Ted Forrest	Chris Ferguson	2–1
2007	Paul Wasicka	Chad Brown	2–0
2008	Chris Ferguson	Andy Bloch	2–1
2009	Huck Seed	Vanessa Rousso	2–0
2010	Annie Duke	Erik Seidel	2–1
2011	Erik Seidel	Chris Moneymaker	2–0
2012	no tournament
2013	Mike Matusow	Phil Hellmuth	2–1

References[edit]

^ ^a^bNBC Spot in the Cards for Poker Tourney February 2005 article from the Las Vegas Sun
^NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Inks Four-year Deal with Caesars, a May 2008 article from pokernews.com
^'NBC Cancels National Heads-Up Poker Championship'. PokerNews. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
^'NBC Brings Back National Heads-Up Poker Championship'. PokerNews. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
^'National Heads-Up Poker Championship returns to Caesars Palace'. Retrieved 14 January 2013.

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Heads-Up_Poker_Championship&oldid=910582999'

World Championship Poker

National Heads Up Poker

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Structure[edit]

Brief history[edit]

Results[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

National Heads Up Poker Championship Wiki