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Ultimate Bet’s Annie Duke Crowned 2010 National Heads-Up Champion

The 2010 National Heads-Up Championship has just finished over the weekend and we have crowned the first ever female champion at this event. Annie Duke has managed to overcome more then a few obstacles to take down the title as well as the first place prize pool of $500,000. It wasn’t an easy road to the finals for Annie Duke as she had some very tough competition, but with her talent and a bit of luck she made it all the way.

This event is set-up a lot like the NCAA March Madness Tournament with single elimination rounds and brackets. With bracket rounds the players know exactly who they’re going to play the entire tournament if they move on which is very helpful for planning ahead. Only the very best poker players get to participate in the National Heads-Up Championship every year and it’s always one of the best events to watch from a player’s perspective.

To get to the finals Annie Duke needed to beat out three of today’s top poker players including Paul Wasicka, Jerry Yang and Dennis Phillips. Any of these players could have won the tournament themselves and it goes to show you the tough path every player has in this event if they want to make it to the finals. In the final round the two players get to play a best of three match-up rather then a single elimination match. Annie Duke was up against Erik Seidel and it ended up needing to go the distance.

Annie started out the final round by winning a tough first match against Erik, but Erik quickly countered by winning the second match. The third match only took one hand and Duke ended up winning with pocket nines. There is no doubt that she was happy to become the first female to win the event and I’m sure she won’t be the last.

Annie Duke - $500,000
Erik Seidel - $250,000
Scotty Nguyen - $125,000
Dennis Phillips - $125,000
Jerry Yang - $75,000
Doyle Brunson - $75,000
Jason Mercier - $75,000
Peter Eastgate - $75,000

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