National Heads-Up Poker Championship Line-up
1. David Benyamine
2. Andy Bloch
3. Chad Brown
4. Doyle Brunson
5. Johnny Chan
6. Don Cheadle
7. Glen Chorny
8. Allen Cunningham
9. Ivan Demidov
10. Annie Duke
11. Tom Dwan
12. Peter Eastgate
13. Eli Elezra
14. Antonio Esfandiari
15. Sam Farha
16. Chris Ferguson
17. Scott Fischman
18. Layne Flack
19. Ted Forrest
20. Brad Garrett
21. Jamie Gold
22. Clonie Gowen
23. Barry Greenstein
24. Gavin Griffin
25. Bertrand Grospellier
26. Joe Hachem
27. Gus Hansen
28. Jennifer Harman
29. Phil Hellmuth
30. Orel Hershiser
31. Jeffrey Ishbia (Caesars qualifier)
32. Phil Ivey
33. John Juanda
34. Gabe Kaplan
35. Phil Laak
36. Howard Lederer
37. Erick Lindgren
38. Jonathan Little
39. Mike Matusow
40. Dario Minieri
41. Chris Moneymaker
42. Daniel Negreanu
43. Scotty Nguyen
44. David Pham
45. John Phan
46. Greg Raymer
47. Vanessa Rousso
48. Ilari Sahamies
49. Huck Seed
50. Vanessa Selbst
51. Erick Seidel
52. Mike Sexton
53. Gavin Smith
54. Jennifer Tilly
55. J.C. Tran
56. Kenny Tran
57. Paul Wasicka
58. David Williams
59. Jerry Yang
60. Leon Yanovski (online qualifier)
61. Caesars qualifier
62. Online qualifier
63. Online qualifier
64. Online qualifier
Kevin Mathers says:
February 24th, 2009 at 6:48am
I’ve been wondering when this list would come out. Any early surprises/omissions?
DanM says:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:15am
No Donkey Bomber. Karridy was unable to wield his influence with GoDaddy to get them to pony up Tom’s $25k, despite K’s spending about as much buying domain names.
I really do like this line-up … so many good potential battles depending on pairings, and I think it holds up the tournament to its rank as a “major”.
California Jen says:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:22am
Nothing knocks me outta my chair. First thought: David Williams? Other than that, no WTF thoughts.
Russ Hamilton says:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:24am
What about Me vs. IRS? And is there any way we could host this matchup online? I know a great site.
Kevin Mathers says:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:24am
If there was a ever a year to rig the lineup, Gowen v Lederer in Round 1 would be an epic matchup.
DanM says:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:28am
Farha vs. Moneymaker … that would be fun, too.
BTW, Jen, Williams is #58 on the list. So Williams vs. Raymer would also be a great, er, rematch.
Kevin Mathers says:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:31am
The list is in alphabetical order.
One huge omission (unless he turned down the invite): Patrik Antonius.
Edit: PA unable to attend (he’s been in Thailand at the start of his challenge against Durrr).
DanM says:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:33am
No Patrik Antonius. Not a super-shocker.
Zero says:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:58am
What is the story with Raymer vs David Williams? What did I miss?
DanM says:
February 24th, 2009 at 8:05am
They played heads-up for the WSOP main event championship in 2004. The hand that Williams lost with still haunts him, he says.
Zero says:
February 24th, 2009 at 8:13am
Dang. I thought It was something really good like Clonie vs Howard or Farha vs Moneymaker. Williams vs Raymer wasn’t so memorable to me. What other HU battles would probably make for good TV?
Tony G vs Helmuth? heh
Durrrr vs Helmuth…oh wait that already happened.
Kevin Mathers says:
February 24th, 2009 at 8:17am
Demidov v Eastgate, in the hopes you actually see more than 2 hands.
Tilly v Laak would be fun as well.
Poker Shrink says:
February 24th, 2009 at 9:41am
Forget the Tony G. matchup and also Marcel Luske, either of the Boatmans, Roland DeWolfe; clearly made for US television.
Karridy says:
February 24th, 2009 at 1:03pm
Jerry Yang vs. Jesus Ferguson.
David Alexander says:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:14pm
Hey… It’ll be good to see Kaplan…
After watching that episode
of him on High stakes…
I was impressed…
Maybe I’m easily impressed…