March 2007 Archives

NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship will be start airing on Sunday, April 8 (Noon ET/3 pm PT).

You can also watch all the shows after they air on NBCSports.com.

By Dennis Oehring

While watching Week 11 of Poker After Dark, it was easy to see just how much winning meant to each of the players. The table talk, for the most part, was strictly business, and at times even got personal as players took issue with some comments made by others. Almost everyone at the table enjoyed the chip lead at one time or another during the match, but in the end, Jennifer Harman prevailed and won the $120,000 winner-take-all prize. She also earned well-deserved bragging rights over what turned out to be a very tough table.

What had to make the victory even sweeter for Harman was that she found herself down to only $4000 in chips on Day 3 when her pocket nines did not hold up against Jennifer Tilly's 5 6 after a flop of 4 8 5. Harman called Tilly's all in bet and had her covered, but a 5 on the river gave Tilly trips and left Harman with only 20% of her original stack. But Harman fought back, and eventually found herself with a 3:2 chip lead going into heads-up play.

On Day 2, Erick Lindgren found himself all in with A Q against Phil Gordon's pocket nines. When Lindgren didn't improve, he was left with only $100 in chips as Gordon doubled up. Erick would be eliminated soon thereafter in 6th place by Jennifer Tilly's pocket aces.

It took two more episodes before the next player would be eliminated. Jennifer Tilly called a short-stacked Phil Gordon's all in preflop bet with pocket nines, and was a favorite over Gordon's A 2. A board of J 2 3 10 Q did not help Gordon, and Tilly had claimed her second victim going into the last episode.

But Tilly would go out in 4th place when she moved all in preflop with an A 7 against Patrik Antonius' K J. Tilly caught a 7 on the flop, but Antonius spiked a J on the river to send Tilly to chat with Shana Hiatt about her aggressive play.

Next to be eliminated would be Phil Ivey, who on the short stack, moved all in preflop with A 4, only to be called by Jennifer Harman's dominating A 10. A flop of J K 10 all but sealed Ivey's fate, and the running 4s he needed to win the pot or a Q to split it did not materialize on the turn or the river, leaving Harman and Antonius to battle it out heads-up.

With the blinds at $2000/$4000, Harman, with the chip lead, found pocket 6s and raised preflop to $12,000. Antonius went all in with pocket 3s, inducing a call from Harman, who found herself a 4:1 favorite. Patrik couldn't catch one of the two outs that he needed to double through Harman, and Jennifer won the match.

In all, another highly entertaining week on Poker After Dark, and one that generated considerable discussion on various Internet poker forums. In providing a format where viewers can see not only poker played by the game's best players but also get a better insight into their personalities, the interest generated by the show is probably just what network executives and producers envisioned during its infancy stages.

By Dennis Oehring

This is my final report on what took place behind-the-scenes while working at the 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship. For more, click on the previous reports: Part 1 and Part 2.

This segment will deal with what goes on in the production trucks that are parked outside of the poker room, which relates directly to what the viewers will see when they watch the tournament on television.

For most of the productions I have been associated with in the past, this was the first where there were actually two trucks used instead of only one. The trucks, roughly the size of semi-tractor trailers, housed all of the audio and video equipment that is used in the show's production, along with highly trained technical support personnel that monitor specific functions from the trucks as the tournament is being filmed. It takes nearly two complete days to set these trucks up once they arrive at their location. These same trucks were used by NBC for coverage of NFL games and this year's Academy Awards.

When I first walked into the video truck, I was absolutely in awe of what I saw. The truck was divided into two primary areas, one housing slightly over 100 monitors located on a wall facing the primary production crew of about a dozen members seated in front of control panels. The other area had another dozen or so monitors, most with 4 panels on each screen, which were used to record and store even more information by an additional highly skilled and computer savvy group of ten.

For those of you are technologically challenged and have trouble recording a show on your DVD player or understanding all of the functions on your cell phone like me, it's difficult to put into words how complex an undertaking setting up these trucks must be. Try to envision running lines from all of the cameras inside the casino to outside in the truck for about 120 different monitors and having all of them work perfectly, and then having all the audio feeds for each of the monitors, in addition to the mics for the players, dealers, and the announcers working as well. All I can say is that if you can visualize the amount of work that goes into this, you'll never again complain about having to set up and run wires under the carpet for your home theatre.

One of my tasks involved monitoring and manually recording the action that took place on Table 3 during the matches. Sitting at a control panel with a headset on so that I could communicate with various members of the production crew, the monitor in front of me was divided into quad panels, giving me four different looks at the table. As each hand was dealt, a time code was assigned to it so that it could be easily referenced when playing back the videos. Notes were made for the people involved in post-production work as to the hands that were the most interesting to watch.

Table 3 featured Shannon Elizabeth's first three matches, so I was able to witness her impressive run in defeating Rene Angelil, Jeff Madsen, and Barry Greenstein. Other notable matches on Table 3 were the rematch between Sam Farha and Ted Forrest, one of the longest matches this year, and the match between Clonie Gowen and Kristy Gazes, each sporting their Jimmy Choo shoes that would make for an interesting side bet as the match began.

So after three long days of intense focus and hard work filming and recording the show, the denizens of the trucks could exchange high fives on another job well done. That was, at least, until the next morning, when the set inside the poker room at Caesars Palace had to be taken down and with it all of the equipment carefully disconnected, a job that takes nearly another 48 hours. When completed, the trucks could roll onto their next location, while the information contained within was shipped off to post production studios in New York.

In all, it was an incredible experience working with the staff inside the truck during the filming of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. I simply cannot speak highly enough of the effort that the crew put in and the skills each of them possess which translated into making this production run so smoothly. They are truly the best in the business, and I'm sure you'll agree once you begin watching the tournament on NBC beginning on April 8.

By Dennis Oehring

This is the second installment of my behind-the-scenes look at the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. You can read about the first couple of days prior to the beginning of the tournament by clicking here.

Pure is an exclusive nightclub inside Caesars Palace, which on most nights has lines full of some of the most beautiful women and hippest dudes you will ever see waiting to get in. The drawing party was held inside the nightclub, where the players and their guests socialized over drinks in the back room of the club for about an hour before the initial pairings were announced.

A handful of players could not make the party itself due to conflicts in their schedules. For instance, both Paul Wasicka and J.C. Tran were competing at the final table of the WPT's L.A. Poker Classic, an event where Wasicka finished 4th and Tran 2nd. Phil Ivey and Johnny Chan were also in route from other locations.

At a little after 8:00 PM, Ali Nejad took over the emcee responsibilities and got the pairings started, with help from Shana Hiatt. After a couple of sponsors and guests drew the first few names, Ali and Shana alternated the random pick of ping-pong balls with the players' names written on them to see who each of the players would face in the opening round.

Each player waited anxiously to hear their name called, and once it was they made their way up to the podium area to have their picture taken with their opening round opponent. Some of the pairings elicited more response from the crowd than others, notably the announcements of 2003 World Champion Chris Moneymaker playing 2005 World Champion Joseph Hachem, and actor Don Cheadle drawing one of the pre-tournament favorites in Phil Ivey.

As each pairing was announced, the players' names were placed in their respective bracket, which was visible on a huge plasma screen for everyone to see. Copies of the completed brackets were made available a few minutes after all the pairing were announced.

Some of the players remained in the club to party for a while after the pairings were completed, while others left to either prepare for the tournament or to play some poker in Caesars poker room that adjoins the nightclub. Faced with three long days of work ahead of them, many members of the NBC team, along with the event organizers, took the opportunity to enjoy a final meal together while continuing to make last-minute preparations for the tournament which was scheduled to begin at 11:00 the following morning.

I'll have more on the tournament itself in future reports.

By Dennis Oehring

With the National Heads-Up Poker Championship set to begin filming on Friday, March 2, my week began three days earlier on Tuesday with a series of meetings comprised of all the key people who work behind-the-scenes to make this event truly special. This included the show's director, producers, organizers, announcers, interview team members, and other key NBC Sports personnel who together orchestrated a game plan that came off with nary a hitch.

If you had walked into the tournament area of the Caesars Palace poker room on Monday, you would never believe the transformation that had to take place between then and Friday. The tournament area normally houses 30+ tables and 300+ chairs, all of which had to be removed so that the set could be erected.

The stage hands responsible for doing this I fondly refer to as the "poker roustabouts," and they have to work long hours within a very short period of time to make sure everything is set up and ready for the opening shoot. This includes building a stage, setting up the heads-up tables, creating areas where the audience can be seated, making sure all of the cameras in use are working properly, creating the backdrop, setting up plasma screens for the benefit of the audience, and much, much more. It is a job of astronomical proportions, and my hat is off to all of them.

Wednesday was a lot of fun, as about 20 of the players came in to do promotional shoots in different parts of the casino. These shoots will serve as the openings to the shows, and will be similar to the intros done for Poker After Dark. Wherever the players and cameras went to do these shoots, they were watched by throngs of fans, many taking pictures with the cameras built into their cell phones. Suffice it to say that the players created quite a buzz throughout the casino whenever the cameras were rolling.

In between these shoots, many of the players indulged in a little bit of poker in a back area of the poker room while others just took the opportunity to relax and shoot the breeze with their poker-playing friends. I heard lots of interesting stories from the likes of Todd Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello, Shawn Sheikhan, and Clonie Gowen while watching players such as Carlos Mortensen, Phil Laak, Jamie Gold, Vanessa Rousso, and Jennifer Tilly trying to bust one another in a $5/10 NL game. The atmosphere was good-natured and lighthearted, and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Thursday was spent in more meetings, being introduced to the people working in the truck as I would later have responsibilities there during filming, and rounding up players for interviews prior to the drawing party that took place later that evening at the exclusive nightclub Pure. Working with NBC's public relations people at the entrance to the red carpet enabled me to greet each of the players and their guests before they made their way onto the carpet, where they were photographed by numerous members of the media and the many fans in attendance.

Standing right behind me at the entrance was a Caesars employee who required identification for any of the players who didn't look at least 40 years of age, which resulted in both John D'Agostino and Tuan Le having to go back to their hotel rooms and retrieve their photo IDs before they could even be admitted. Sounds like no big deal, right? But if you've ever been in Caesars Palace, that can be a very long walk depending on where your room is located. Sorry guys, I had nothing to do with it, I promise!

I'll cover the drawing party in more detail in Part 2.

Paul Wasicka won the second game to wrap up NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Wasicka defeated Chad Brown to become the third winner of the tournament.

Phil Hellmuth won the title in 2005, while Ted Forrest won in 2006.

CLICK HERE for more.

Paul Wasicka won the first game of the NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship in the best of three final.

Wasicka's pair of 6's held off Brown's A-J spade flush draw.

Check back for an update on Game 2.

Paul Wasicka came back to win his semifinal matchup with Shannon Elizabeth and advance to the finals of NBC's Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Wasicka will now play Chad Brown in the finals.

CLICK HERE for more.

Chad Brown defeated Gavin Smith in the semifinals of NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Brown will face the winner of Shannon Elizabeth and Paul Wasicka.

CLICK HERE for more.

Chad Brown and Gavin Smith advanced to the semifinals of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. In the quarterfinals, Brown defeated Kristy Gazes, while Smith outlasted Andy Bloch.

The two will meet in the semifinals, while Shannon Elizabeth and Paul Wasicka face off in the other semi.

CLICK HERE for more.

Shannon Elizabeth's amazing run continues... The actress defeated Humberto Brenes in the quarterfinals and has now made the final four.

In the other finished quarterfinal matchup, Paul Wasicka defeated Nam Le.

Wasicka and Elizabeth will play in the semifinals later today.

CLICK HERE for more.

In the final round of 16 matchup, Mike Matusow fell to Andy Bloch.

The quarterfinals are now set.

Shannon Elizabeth vs. Humberto Brenes
Paul Wasicka vs. Nam Le
Andy Bloch vs. Gavin Smith
Kristy Gazes vs. Chad Brown

CLICK HERE for more.

Shannon Elizabeth continued her surprising run in NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Elizabeth has beaten pros Rene Angelil, Jeff Madsen and Barry Greenstein.

Elizabeth will face Humberto Brenes in the round of eight.

CLICK HERE for more.

The first round of this year's event was highlighted by the wins of celebrities and women. Five women advanced to the second round, including Shannon Elizabeth who defeated Rene Angelil.

The biggest upset though was by Don Cheadle who ousted arguably the world's best player in Phil Ivey.

For updated brackets of this year's event, CLICK HERE.