NBC will present taped coverage of the fifth installment of its ultimate big-stakes poker showdown, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship presented by Vonage, from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Sunday at Noon ET. Players advancing beyond this round are guaranteed at least $75,000 in prize money.

The most intriguing story of this season is the continued dominance of 1988 Cy Young Winner and 1988 World Series MVP Orel Hershiser. Up to this point, Hershiser has eliminated three of poker's premiere players Ted Forrest, Allen Cunningham and Freddy Deeb. This week he takes on the former MIT Black Jack Team member Andy Bloch. This show also features Phil Ivey, one of the best players in the game as he faces "The Great Dane" Gus Hansen. The 2005 and 2006 National Heads-Up Poker Championship runner-up Chris "Jesus" Ferguson takes on Jonathan "Fiery Justice" Little. David Benyamine, regarded as one of the best high-stakes cash game players in the world takes on 1996 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Huck Seed.

Complete 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Schedule:
May 11 at Noon ET
May 18 at Noon ET

NBC will present taped coverage of the third installment of its ultimate big-stakes poker showdown, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship presented by Vonage, from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nev. Sunday at Noon ET. Players advancing beyond this episode are guaranteed $25,000 in prize money.

The show will feature an exciting head-to-head match between Phil Ivey, regarded as the best player in the game today and Johnny Chan, one of only four players to win two World Series Main Event Championships. 1988 World Series MVP Orel Hershiser takes on 5- Time World Series of Poker Bracelet Winner Allen Cunningham. "E-Dog" Erick Lindgren takes on Poker legend Doyle Brunson. Only two women remain in the tournament, "Lady Maverick" Vanessa Rousso challenges former MIT black jack team member Andy Bloch and Maxim cover girl Clonie Gowen takes on the 2006 Card Player Magazine Player of the Year Mike Mizrachi.

Complete 2008 National Heads Up Poker Championship Schedule:
April 27 at Noon ET
May 4 at Noon ET
May 11 at Noon ET
May 18 at Noon ET

The first two weeks of NBC’s exclusive coverage of the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship have drawn higher overnight ratings than in any of the previous three seasons.  Ratings show that coverage of the Round of 64, which aired on April 13 and on April 20, averaged a 1.45 rating and a 4 share, solidifying NBC’s coverage of this event as the most watched of all poker-related televised programming.  The ratings are especially noteworthy in that the first episode was aired in some major markets during the time that coverage of The Masters Golf Tournament was taking place on another network.

This would seem to indicate that poker is still very popular among viewers, especially when they can see many of the very best players in the world competing in the same event.  The field this year was the most difficult and talented ever assembled, one of the key reasons why many consider this year’s tournament to be the best in the event’s history.

Equally impressive is that the National Heads-Up Poker Championship on NBC, which began in 2005 as a replacement for the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs which did not take place because of a lockout, has continued to score high ratings despite some who have said that the poker boom peaked years ago.  This would also suggest that poker’s popularity on television not only remains strong, but that the formula NBC uses to bring viewers great poker combined with elements of fun and entertainment is indeed a winner. 

This week’s coverage of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship will feature the Round of 32 which will air in its entirety on Sunday, April 27 at 12:00 p.m. EDT (3:00 p.m. PDT).  Viewers of this exciting two-hour episode will witness half of the 32 remaining players advance to the Round of 16 in their quest for the championship, and be guaranteed $25,000 in prize money for doing so.  They will also see the dreams of winning the championship shattered for the other half, as they will go home only with dreams of what might have been and hope for the opportunity to compete again next year.

All of the celebrities in the starting field except for Orel Hershiser met their demise in the opening round.  Orel defeated 2006 NHPC champion Ted Forrest, and now draws another of the game’s best in Allen Cunningham.  Of the 11 World Champions who began, 8 are still remaining, but like Forrest, the other 2 previous winners of this event, Phil Hellmuth and Paul Wasicka, fell victim to Tom Dwan and Freddy Deeb respectively.

Of the players who made their debut in the NHPC this year and are in their early to mid-20s, 4 out of 5 have advanced and will see action again this week.  They are Tom Dwan, Scott Clements, Brian Townsend, and Jonathan Little.  Also surviving the opening round are the 2 elder statesmen in this tournament, Doyle Brunson and T.J. Cloutier.  Fans of the ladies will pin their hopes on Vanessa Rousso and Clonie Gowen, the only 2 women remaining out of the 6 that began.

The Round of 32 is filled with intense heads-up action.  Noteworthy matches include Phil Ivey battling two-time World Champion Johnny Chan, Barry Greenstein going up against David Benyamine in a clash of high-stakes cash game titans, and Mike Matusow trying to avenge the loss suffered by his good friend Phil Hellmuth in the first round at the hands of Tom “durrrr” Dwan.

The winners of this Sunday’s matches will advance to the Round of 16, and move one step closer to the $500,000 first place prize.  NBC will air that round on Sunday, May 4 in an action-packed 2-hour episode beginning at 12:00 p.m. EDT (3:00 p.m. PDT) as the remaining players battle to reach the quarterfinals.The first two weeks of NBC’s exclusive coverage of the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship have drawn higher overnight ratings than in any of the previous three seasons, this according to network executives.  Ratings show that coverage of the Round of 64, which aired on April 13 and on April 20, averaged a 1.45 rating and a 4 share, solidifying NBC’s coverage of this event as the most watched of all poker-related televised programming.  The ratings are especially noteworthy in that the first episode was aired in most major markets during the time that coverage of The Masters Golf Tournament was taking place on another network.

This would seem to indicate that poker is still very popular among viewers, especially when they can see many of the very best players in the world competing in the same event.  The field this year was the most difficult and talented ever assembled, one of the key reasons why many consider this year’s tournament to be the best in the event’s history.

Equally impressive is that the National Heads-Up Poker Championship on NBC, which began in 2005 as a replacement for the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs which did not take place because of a lockout, has continued to score high ratings despite some who have said that the poker boom peaked years ago.  This is not only an indication that poker’s popularity on television remains strong, but also that the formula NBC uses to bring viewers great poker combined with elements of fun and entertainment is indeed a winner.

This week’s coverage of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship will feature the Round of 32 which will air in its entirety on Sunday, April 27 at 12:00 p.m. EDT (3:00 p.m. PDT).  Viewers of this exciting two-hour episode will witness half of the 32 remaining players advance to the Round of 16 in their quest for the championship, and be guaranteed $25,000 in prize money for doing so.  They will also see the dreams of winning the championship shattered for the other half, as they will go home only with dreams of what might have been and hope for the opportunity to compete again next year.

All of the celebrities in the starting field except for Orel Hershiser met their demise in the opening round.  Orel defeated 2006 NHPC champion Ted Forrest, and now draws another of the game’s best in Allen Cunningham.  Of the 11 World Champions who began, 8 are still remaining, but like Forrest, the other 2 previous winners of this event, Phil Hellmuth and Paul Wasicka, fell victim to Tom Dwan and Freddy Deeb respectively.

Of the players who made their debut in the NHPC this year and are in their early to mid-20s, 4 out of 5 have advanced and will see action again this week.  They are Tom Dwan, Scott Clements, Brian Townsend, and Jonathan Little.  Also surviving the opening round are the 2 elder statesmen in this tournament, Doyle Brunson and T.J. Cloutier.  Fans of the ladies will pin their hopes on Vanessa Rousso and Clonie Gowen, the only 2 women remaining out of the 6 that began.

The Round of 32 is filled with intense heads-up action.  Noteworthy matches include Phil Ivey battling two-time World Champion Johnny Chan, Barry Greenstein going up against David Benyamine in a clash of high-stakes cash game titans, and Mike Matusow trying to avenge the loss suffered by his good friend Phil Hellmuth in the first round at the hands of Tom “durrrr” Dwan.

The winners of this Sunday’s matches will advance to the Round of 16, and move one step closer to the $500,000 first place prize.  NBC will air that round on Sunday, May 4 in an action-packed 2-hour episode beginning at 12:00 p.m. EDT (3:00 p.m. PDT) as the remaining players battle to reach the quarterfinals.

At one point during the 4th season of High Stakes Poker, Phil Hellmuth gleefully commented to the other players that they were playing in a jam-up game, and Jamie Gold immediately agreed.  The reason was because the action was loose, chips were flying, and the players were gambling.  While neither Hellmuth nor Gold is playing in this week’s match on Poker After Dark, viewers can expect similar action, as the 6 players participating all know a thing or two about playing aggressively and/or not being afraid to move chips, and as such this promises to be one of the most talked about matches of the season.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson rallied from one game down to win NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship over Andy Bloch.

Ferguson takes home $500,000 and now has $1 million in earnings at Heads-Up as he finished second in both 2005 and 2006.

Bloch receives $250,000 for second place.

After falling in the first game, Chris Ferguson was short stacked for most of the second game before winning all three all-ins and winning Game 2.

The finals match is now tied at 1-1 with the winner of the next game becoming champion.

Andy Bloch took the first match of the best of three final against Chris Ferguson.

The second match will be starting in 10 minutes.

Andy Bloch, who made the Round of 8 last year, is headed to this year's final after defeated Huck Seed.

In the Championship he'll face Chris Ferguson, starting at 6:30 p.m. PT.

Updated brackets

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson defeated Phil Ivey in the semifinals as his pocket eights held up.

This will be the third time in the four years of the Heads-Up Championship that Ferguson has made the finals.

He'll face the winner of Huck Seed and Andy Bloch.

The Heads-Up Championship Semifinals began at 4:30 PT. Here are the matchups.

Andy Bloch vs. Huck Seed
Bloch made it to the Quarterfinals last year, while Seed was a semifinalist in 2006.

Chris Ferguson vs. Phil Ivey
Ferguson was a finalist in both 2005 and 2006, while Ivey lost in the first round his three previous appearances.