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While ratings for the National Heads Up Poker Championship have dropped drastically since 2006, at the height of the poker boom and pre-US prohibition related to online card rooms, the event is still likely to draw throngs of fans to their sets, predicts Ace King, poker writer for the Gambling911.com website.
"The folks behind the National Heads Up Poker Championship have made great strives in featuring only the best talent out there today," he said.
Among them, Gambling911.com favorite Doyle Brunson, whose Doylesroom.com is one of the fastest online poker rooms.
Gary Trask of Casino City writes: "When you really think about it, the concept behind NBC's Head-Up Poker Championship is brilliant, because like any high-profile profession, the egos and pride that the top players in the sport possess are enormous. So when you put 64 of the best and most flamboyant personalities in a head-to-head setting in front of a TV audience with $1.5 million at stake, you are guaranteeing yourself some entertaining fireworks."
Phil Hellmuth, the self-proclaimed "Poker Brat" and spokesperson for UltimateBet gives a whole new meaning to the word "ego" perhaps. He'll also be there. Hellmuth is considered one of - if not THE - best poker players in the world, having won more bracelets than anyone else.
There is also the "Clonie Factor" - that being Clonie Gowen, who filed a $40 million lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker and a number of individuals she'll be playing against at the 2009 National Heads Up Poker Championship.
The event will draw interest from around the globe thanks to a number of high profile entries. Among them: Denmark's own Peter Eastgate, who was the winner of the 2008 World Series of Poker.
The National Head's Up Poker Championship might want to review ESPN's strategy as it relates to the World Series of Poker. ESPN delayed the WSOP final table until November (3 months after the WSOP had gotten underway), then broadcast the final with only a slight tape delay.
NBC will air twelve hours of coverage of the Heads Up Poker Championship on six consecutive Sundays beginning on April 12, but that is more than a month after the event has already been played and reported on most blogs and news websites the likes of Gambling911.com.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
