The 64 poker players gathered at PURE where they sipped champagne and dined on sliders, egg rolls and shrimp as they learned who they would face off against in the third national event. Among those competing were actor Don Cheadle, actresses Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth; plus defending heads up champion Ted Forrest; 2005 champion Phil Hellmuth; and 2005 and 2006 runner-up Chris Ferguson.
Two celebrity highlights of note:
- Don Cheadle (seen below) went in as a definite underdog, but stunned the room by beating five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Ivey in the first round. But, in the second round Cheadle was knocked out by two-time bracelet winner Scott Fischman.
- Poker princess Shannon Elizabeth was alive and sitting pretty into the last day of competition, as one of the final eight players left standing! She'd even beaten two-time bracelet winner Humberto Brenes to make the final four but became Cinderella at midnight, when playing Paul Wasicka, who eventually went onto win the tournament. Shannon lost to Wasicka and was just one card from advancing. But that's poker!
Also joining in the fun were Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, Doyle Brunson, Antonio Esfandiari, Sam Farha, Jamie Gold, Joe Hachem, Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, and Greg Raymer.
Before the actual tournament got underway, sexy 'American Pie' star Shannon lunched with her supporters at Planet Hollywood and then did dinner with a large party that included actor Cheadle and Chris Ferguson at Boa Steakhouse, both in the Forum Shops at Caesars "The National Heads-Up is poker playing at its finest," offers Jon Miller, Executive VP of NBC Sports. "We've got sixty four of the best poker players going head-to-head and there are no second chances. You lose, you go home. The caliber of players and the cut-throat game play makes for the most exciting spectator poker around."
Last year's champion Ted Forrest commented: "This tournament is all about pressure. There are a lot of great players involved, but in the end, it's all about who can focus on their cards and opponent, not on the big chance of going home empty handed. But I did it once, so I can certainly do it again."
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1. With a couple of babes like Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth at the table I would have a hard time concentrating on the cards!
Lester at 12:48PM on Mar 6th 2007