Forrest Wins National Heads Up Poker Championship at Caesars

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Chris Ferguson is Runner Up for Second Year in a Row

On Monday, March 6th, the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship arena at Caesars Las Vegas was, at first, quiet and intense, though the audience was the largest since the event began and the neighboring poker room was filled to capacity. In contrast to the raucous over the past two days, there was an eerie hush within the exclusive tournament enclosure. This day would wrap-up the quarterfinals, followed by the semifinals and finally, the championship events. The mood would soon metamorphose into a rousing spectacle.

Eight of the Poker elite remained; all guaranteed a minimum of $75,000.00 for participating in the quarterfinals.

The Clubs bracket touted James McManus and Chris Ferguson.

The Spades bracket boasted Huckleberry Seed and Barry Greenstein.

The Hearts bracket presented Daniel Negreanu and Sean Sheikhan.

The Diamonds bracket paraded Ted Forrest and Sam Farha.

The first tournaments to kick off the event toasted McManus and Ferguson at the feature table. Seed and Greenstein were stationed on the on the upper level of the staging area.

The $128,000 in tournament chips were moved forward into the third day of action, giving the remaining 8 players $160,000 each. The blinds started at $800-$1,600, with fifteen minute rounds going into the quarterfinals.

Seed and Greenstein battled it out for almost an hour before Seed took a 3.5 chip lead against Greenstein. In the final hand of their match, the blinds were $5,000.00 - $10,000.00 and Greenstein moved all in from the button. Seed paused for a moment before calling and turned over pocket tens. Greenstein had Ah – 9d and Seed was in the lead going into the hand. The flop came Qh – 8h – 2s and Greenstein needed a flush, running nines or a runner-runner straight to survive. The turn paired the board with the 2h, giving Greenstein the flush draw.

Ali Nejad brought to the audience’s attention that, the very man that wrote “Ace on the River” was looking for just that; an ace on the river. But the last card to hit the board was the 4s and Seed was propelled into the semifinals.

It was Sam Farha and Ted Forrest’s turn at the felt as they seated themselves at the recently vacated table at 1:15 p.m. PST.

About that time, McManus moved all in against Ferguson after the flop. The board showed 9 – 7 – 4 and McManus had paired sevens with Qh – 7c. Ferguson turned over 9c – 5s for a higher pair and had McManus covered in chips. The turn was the Js and McManus needed a queen or 7 to remain in the match, but the 2c came on the river and Ferguson won the hand to go on to the semifinals and face the 1996 World Series of Poker Champion; Huckleberry Seed.

Daniel Negreanu and Sean Sheikhan seated themselves at the feature table. After their short introductions by Ali Nejad, it was clear; the banter and entertainment would be as elevated as the action during this challenge.

Forrest and Farha were over an hour into their match and Forrest was severely short stacked, while Sheikhan moved into the lead during the third round with a 3 – 1 advantage over Negreanu.

As promised, the “Negreanu and Sheikhan Show” was airing at the feature table and fans couldn’t get enough. Negreanu playfully sparred with Sheikhan, Sheikhan returned with a few verbal jabs of his own and the crowd interjected sporadically, creating an impromptu comedy circle. Negreanu often showed his hole cards, Sheikhan turned over the entire deck at the end of a hand and the two ad-libbed for the cameras.

Two hours into the match, Sheikhan moved all in preflop with Kc – 9h and Negreanu called with 9s – 8c. Negreanu was short stacked and if Sheikhan won the hand he would advance into the semifinal round. The flop came 9c – 6d – 2s and both players paired their nines, though Sheikhan had a higher kicker. The turn was the 10h and Negreanu suddenly had a straight draw, but an Ad fell on the river to seal the win for Sheikhan and send Negreanu to the rail. Sheikhan would face off with the victor of the Diamonds bracket.

Meanwhile, Farha doubled through Forrest, Forrest did the same and after close to three hours of play, the challengers were almost even in chips. And so it went, Forrest had the lead, then Farha would return the serve and just like tennis it was deuce – advantage – ad-in – ad-out, and then back to deuce.

It was almost 5:00 p.m. and the final two players of the quarterfinal rounds had created a new and expanded version of what should have been a fast-track-heads-up match. In fact, NBC confirmed that no match had ever lasted as long as the one between Forrest and Farha in the two-year history of the National Heads-Up Championship, and they had 122 matches behind them.

Then, after three hours and ten minutes, Forrest called Farha’s all-in and showed pocket fives. Farha turned over K – J suited and the flop came 10s – 9s – 2s keeping Forrest in the lead. The turn was a 3d and the river gave Forrest a set with the 5c. It appeared the match was over.

Farha left the stage and Forrest was about to give his celebratory interview, when the dealer dutifully tallied the pot. It seemed Farha had Forrest covered, going into the hand, with over $25,000.00 in chips remaining. It was “game-on” and Farha returned to his seat, commenting, “It’s five o’clock and all I can think about is dinner.”

With the blinds at $8,000 - $16,000, Farha maxed the bet on the next few hands. Finally, Forrest moved all-in and Farha called, but the board fell from Farha’s favor and Forrest had officially won the match.

It was off to the semi-finals after a much needed dinner break and the following players would go head to head for the next two rounds of the competition:

Chris Ferguson would face Huckleberry Seed.

Sean Sheikhan would challenge Ted Forrest.

Note: During the pairings party, Doyle Brunson made a $100,000.00 public bet that was called by Howard Lederer. Brunson, representing the Hearts bracket, still had Sheikhan on his team and Lederer had Forrest representing the Diamonds bracket. Their match would eliminate a key player and determine who (Brunson or Lederer) would free-roll their way into the championship rounds.

The players would receive $320,000 in chips and the blinds would start at $1,500-$3,000, going into the semifinals.

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With the blinds at $10,000 - $20,000.00, Seed limped in on the small blind and Ferguson raised. Seed moved all-in and Ferguson called. Ferguson had pocket tens, Seed showed pocket fours and Ferguson had Seed covered. The board didn’t change their initial standings, going into the hand and Ferguson moved on to compete in the championship round.

Huckleberry Seed went home with $125,000.00 in prize money.

The match between Sheikhan and Forrest drew out a little longer with each making small raises and minimal calls. The two remained fairly even in chips through the end of the third round when Forrest took the advantage, but Sheikhan battled back and survived an all-in with pocket jacks to bring his stack back to half of that of Forrest’s. Forrest spiked a king on the flop but Sheikhan hit a jack on the river to make a set. With the blinds at $10,000 - $20,000, going into the seventh round, their stacks were back to even. But Forrest pushed hard and fast to gain the advantage and had Sheikhan down to his last $90,000.00 within a ten-minute time period.

In the final hand, Sheikhan went all-in for his last $40,000.00 and Forrest called with pocket kings, making trips on the turn to eliminate Sheikhan.

Sean Sheikhan would collect $125,000.00 in prize money and Forrest would allow Howard Lederer to free-roll into the last phase of his public bet with Doyle Brunson.

Chris Ferguson, last year’s runner-up, would face Ted Forrest in the final three matches of the championship event.

The players started off with $640,000.00 in chips and the blinds were $5,000.00 - $10,000.00 going into the first round.

After two rounds, Forrest had secured a 4 – 1 lead with over a $1,000,000.00 in chips. But Ferguson came back, doubled up twice and reduced Forrest’s advantage to less than $60,000.00.

Thirty minutes later, Ferguson was ahead and moved all in with Ah – 9h. Forrest called and showed pocket tens. The flop came Kc – Jd – 7h and Forrest had the lead. The turn, 8c, didn’t help Ferguson and he need a ten for the straight, or an ace for a higher pair to win the match. The river, the As, paired Ferguson and the players prepared themselves for another match.

Ferguson was on a roll going into the second session and won six of the first seven hands. But Forrest came back for a 2 – 1 chip lead by the end of the first round.

The blinds increased to $15,000.00 - $30,000.00 and Ferguson moved all in from the button. Forrest called and showed As – 4c. Ferguson had Jh – 7s and the flop came 6h – 5d – Qd, the turn was a 2h and Ferguson needed a jack or 7 to survive, but the 10d fell on the river and Forrest won the match with ace high.

The champion would have to be determined by the third and final round of the championship event.

The table was reset and the cards went into the air at 12:22 a.m. PST. The challengers had been competing for over twelve hours, with breaks, dinner and tape changes eating up the day.

By the end of the first round, Forrest had taken a moderate lead and the blinds went up to $10,000.00 - $20,000.00.

Forrest took down a monster pot and gained a $290,000.00 lead going into round three. The blinds increased to $15,000 - $30,000 and both players rallied back and forth until their stacks were almost even.

When the blinds were $20,000.00 - $40,000.00, Forrest won a huge pot. He made a set of sixes to win the hand, which built his stack to over $1 million.

Forrest held the advantage until both players went all in before the flop. Forrest had K – J and Ferguson had Q – 7. Forrest made trip kings on the river to win the hand and both rounds making him the National Heads-Up Champion and awarding him $500,000.00.

In an alarming display of emotion, Forrest threw his hand up in the air when he realized he had won the hand. He was out of his seat and pacing the stage. Forrest had shown no emotion throughout the tournament, so his hoopla caught everyone off guard, but Forrest deserved a release after conducting himself like a true gentleman and proving poker isn’t just for “bad-boys”. Maybe nice guys really do finish last.

Chris Ferguson was runner up for the second year in a row and took home $250,000.00.

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