The PokerGO Heads Up Championship is set to take place between April 21st and 23rd, and with a dramatic draw pitching some of poker’s finest against each other, there is a lot to play for in the 32-man tournament in Las Vegas.
All the action gets underway this Thursday under the lights in the PokerGO Studio and there are some intriguing pairings on the Championship bracket, for which the draw was done on Tuesday.
Who’s Playing Who in Round One?
Ahead of looking at the matchups in the opening round, here’s how the full bracket looks.
As you can see, there are some ties in prospect. With the four quarters of the draw represented by either ‘Spades’, ‘Clubs’, ‘Hearts’ or ‘Diamonds’, it’s hard for any poker fan’s first reaction to the draw not to be wondering where a female player is on the board, because there aren’t any.
That’s a real shame, and it’s impossible not to see that as an opportunity missed given how many strong female poker players are currently playing in the game, such as Kitty Kuo, Kristen Foxen, Vanessa Kade and Kyna England to name just four hugely popular players who would have been fantastic to watch in action.
Instead, fans will be looking forward to some very familiar names clashing in the opening fixtures. Sam Soverel takes on Sean Winter, Alex Foxen plays off against Simon Yu and Shannon Shorr takes on perhaps his polar opposite in terms of player type in Shaun Deeb.
Elsewhere, Jared Bleznick is the opponent of Daniel Negreanu, who starred in this week’s episode of High Stakes Poker, while Japanese player Tamon Nakamura takes on Stanley Tang and four-time WPT Main Event winner Darren Elias clashes with online phenom Landon Tice in perhaps the tie of the ‘left-side’ of the opening round.
Battling for supremacy on the right side are Jeremy Ausmus and Chris Brewer in a duel many who have watched high roller events this year on PokerGO will feel at home watching. Controversial figure Ali Imsirovic will play Jake Daniels, while nice guys Bill Klein and Phil Galfond will face off to take on the winner of that previous tie. Galfond against Imsirovic would be a real box office heads-up duel for the books. Popular WSOP ‘Dirty Diaper’ player Nicholas Rigby plays Dan Shak, with the winner facing Phil Hellmuth Jr. If ‘The Poker Brat’ can triumph over Eric Persson.
When Do the Games Begin?
The opening round of matches take place on Thursday, April 21st, with the Clubs & Diamonds matches starting at midday and the Spades & Hearts sections kicking off at 4.00pm local time. The very next day, the Round of 16 takes place from midday, with the quarterfinalists, all of whom will be playing to get into the four money places, facing off from 4 pm. On Saturday April 23rd, the two semifinals take place from high noon, with the final showdown kicking off at 4.00pm.
With 32 players in contention, each player is putting up a $25,000 entry fee, meaning a prize pool of $800,000 is on offer over the three days, with $400,000 going to the winner, the runner-up winning $200,000 and both beaten semifinalists pocketing $100,000.
Poker fans around the world will be able to watch the whole tournament via PokerGO with a subscription and can even save 20% on signing up if they use the promo code HEADSUP22WEB to do so.
If you’re not a subscriber, there will still be some Heads-Up action to enjoy, with Thursday’s opening day’s play going out on PokerGO’s YouTube channel from 4.00 pm Eastern Time / 1pm Pacific Time on each day, including that tournament opener.
Players Can’t Wait for the Action
“Don’t get embarrassed by Bill on TV again.”
Phil Galfond is looking forward to his match against Bill Klein but admitted concern about losing in this hilarious post on Twitter.
Don’t get embarrassed by bill on tv again don’t get embarrassed by bill on tv again don’t get embarrassed by bill on tv again don’t get embarrassed by bill on tv again don’t get embarrassed by bill on tv again don’t get embarrassed by bill on tv again don’t get embarrassed by bil https://t.co/b0ak7EaD6Q
— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) April 20, 2022
Daniel Negreanu told poker fans his predictions, as he said: “I filled out my bracket. I got a final four matchup of Daniel Negreanu vs Alex Foxen [and] Scott Seiver vs Nick Schulman.”
Five players to feature will be selling pieces of themselves via the Pocket Fives staking platform, with players such as Negreanu, Darren Elias, Erik Seidel, Shaun Deeb and Scott Seiver all available.
Phil Hellmuth will be one to watch, having enjoyed an almost unbelievable 7-1 winning record in PokerGO’s High Stakes Duel show. The Poker Brat’s preparation for the event is… original to say the least.
Might as well…JUMP!! THIS is a 20 foot drop! I was scared, but pushed myself to jump whilst thinking, “300 people have done this before, and no one has gotten hurt. Must be safe!” Safe! @steveaoki on commentary, at Steve’s house: Steve also shot the video #POSITIVITY pic.twitter.com/v5MZxDYy47
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) April 20, 2022
