Harrah’s Entertainment has announced that the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which brings together 64 of the world’s best players competing in a unique one-on-one, single-elimination, bracket-style format, will move to Caesars Palace starting in 2006.
NBC will broadcast 10 hours of tournament action over six shows next April and May.
The first run of the tournament at The Golden Nugget in Vegas in March 2005 generated solid ratings on NBC and a strong buzz in the poker community. Television audiences grew as the tournament progressed, with a total audience of six million watching the finale on May 22, when Phil Hellmuth bested Chris Ferguson in the two-hour telecast.
The next event, featuring a total purse of $1.5 million, including a top prize of $500,000, will be contested March 3- 5 in the casino at Caesars Palace.
The 2006 TV coverage will be expanded to 10 hours over six shows to be telecast on Sundays in April and May. Hellmuth will defend his title against many of the sport’s most prominent players, with the field expected to include legendary Hall of Famers Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan, plus established stars such as Howard Lederer and 2003 Player of the Year Erick Lindgren.
Others expected to compete include 2005 Poker Superstars champion Gus Hansen; 2003 World Series of Poker champion Chris Moneymaker; 2004 Player of the Year Daniel Negreanu; 2004 World Series of Poker champion Greg Raymer; and 2005 and National Heads-Up Poker Championship semifinalists Antonio Esfandiari and T.J. Cloutier.
A blind draw will put the contestants into college basketball tournament- like brackets that, because of the quality of the invitational field, produce attractive match-ups between some of the best players in the world throughout the competition. Tournament officials will conduct the draw at Caesars Palace on Thursday evening, March 2, as part of a media event to be attended by the 64-player field.