Full Tilt
Huck Seed wins 2009 National Heads-Up Championship
Full Tilt Poker pro Huck Seed is the 2009 National Heads-Up Champion. After deep runs in the four previous NHUPC tournaments, Huck defeated Vanessa Rousso 2-0 in the best-of-three final round to win one of the most prestigious titles in poker. He walked away with the NHUPC trophy and $500K in prize money, taking his career tournament earnings to more than $4.5 million.
Huck dominated Rousso throughout the first match, taking down a pot worth $100K within the first half hour. His K-J then stood against Rousso’s all-in with Q-J, securing his first victory. He went on to win the second match within an hour. Both players limped pre-flop to see the 8-3-K board. The turn showed a 10, and Rousso moved all-in with J-10. Huck called with a pair of Kings. The river showed a 5 and Huck took the NHUPC title.
Huck is the third ever WSOP Main Event champion to also win the NHUPC, alongside Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth. His victory on Sunday also secured his position as the most dominant heads up player in NHUPC history, with an overall record of 18 wins to 4 losses.
Steve Brecher wins 2009 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star
Full Tilt Poker pro Steve Brecher won the 2009 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event, securing his first ever WPT championship title. He beat a field of 391 players to win over $1 million in prize money and his seat at the 2009 $25K WPT Championship event this April.
Steve started the final table in 3rd place with over $2 million in chips. He battled his way through the longest WPT final table on record to play heads-up with a 2:1 chip lead against Kathy Liebert. The final hand came just 2 hours 45 minutes later after 54 heads-up hands were played.
Liebert’s pre-flop raise met a re-raise from Brecher. Liebert moved all-in with Q-10 and Brecher called with A-9. The board showed 6-6-2-2-4 and Brecher’s stronger kicker secured his victory. He walked away with his biggest tournament win to date, boosting his career tournament earnings to over $1.7 million.
Full Tilt Poker Runs Strong at the LA Poker Tournament
Full Tilt Poker ran strong at this year’s LAPC, with Vivek Rajkumar winning the first ever $10K Heads-Up Championship event and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson battling his way to the Main Event final table.
22 year old Vivek beat 111 contenders to become the first ever L.A. Poker Classic $10K Heads-Up Champion. In the double elimination format, players could lose one game without being knocked out of the tournament. Vivek fought hard for his tournament life after losing an early game and emerged victorious for a $350K payday, boosting his career tournament earnings to over $2.3 million. His impressive two year poker career also includes a WPT Borgata Poker Open title for $1.4 million, a win at last year’s LAPC $2.5K No-Limit Hold ‘em event for $113K, and eight WSOP cashes.
Chris also stepped up to the challenge and made his first ever WPT final table. He battled his way through the tough six days of play, making it through to the final table short stacked. His final hand of AK suited was beaten by pocket 4’s, eliminating him in 6th place for over $240K. Chris’s extraordinary list of accomplishments includes 2000 WSOP Main Event Champion, five WSOP bracelets, 2008 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold ‘em National Champion, and 2 WSOP-C rings.
