Annie Duke Wins NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championships
March 9, 2010
Annie Duke scores yet another victory for the fairer sex as she steps up to take the title of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Champion. Besting a field composed of some of the best poker pros today, she managed to come out on top and even win the first place prize of $500,000.
Girl Power
Annie Duke has long been revered as one of the best female poker pros, and she just further solidified her position with this most recent win. However, let it never be said that her journey to the top spot was an easy one. Duke had to undergo some of the most grueling and most dramatic matches in the history of the tournament, not to mention some of the longest ones. On her way to the top spot, she had to best a good friend, a WSOP runner-up, a former Heads-up champion, and finally, Erik Seidel.
The first match was against Andy Bloch, one of Annie’s good friends. It was a tough match, and certainly very conflicting, but all’s fair in love and war, so they say, and so it is in the world of poker. As such, Annie Duke bested her friend and moved on to the next match, which was against 2009 WSOP runner-up, Darvin Moon. With Darvin Moon’s prowess at the felt, Annie was surely up against a tough opponent. But as it was, she was able to hold her on against Moon. Then, her next fight was against the 2007 NBC Heads-up Poker Champion, Paul Wasicka. Wasicka probably did not know that he was playing against the 2010 winner back then, but Duke was certainly aware of her opponent’s stature as former champion.
Sure enough, the two went all out against each other, giving rise to one of the most epic matches in the history of the tournament. Duke was at a very tough spot as she went all in with her ace-ten. Wasicka, at that point, had pocket Aces. It was a huge risk for Annie Duke to take, but her luck held out and she managed to river a straight, allowing her to move up to the next level. Her next fight was against Jerry Young who managed to double up against her for several instances. Annie Duke was at a shaky bridge back then, but she managed to pull through once more, which allowed her to move up into the semi-final match against Dennis Phillips. Phillips was as ruthless as Duke’s previous opponents, yet he too had to bow down to Duke’s prowess as a poker player and her utilization of great poker strategy.
Finals
Finally, Duke had to battle against Erik Seidel, another good friend of hers. Still, friends or no, Erik did not go easy on her at all. They played three rounds in all before Duke finally managed to emerge as a winner. Afterwards, Duke and Seidel were escorted into the tournament room for the awarding, which they both graciously and gratefully took.
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