$20,000 Heads-Up Championship
Day 3 Completed
2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
$20,000 Heads-Up Championship
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
Buy-in
$20,000
Prize Pool
$1,500,000
Entries
64
![[user38449]](https://www.pokernews.com/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
The road to the top was no smooth ride for the man they call “Jesus,” who knocked off some big names en route to the title. In the opening round, Chris ousted fellow Team FullTilt pro John Juanda to advance to day 2. Next up was a very tough opponent in Gavin Smith, who Chris beat with relative ease. Ferguson then set his sights on friend and fellow Team FullTilt pro Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, who he eventually beat after what turned out to be the lengthiest match of the round of 16.
In the quarterfinals, Jesus offered no mercy for Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little and advanced to the final four against yet another Team FullTilt colleague, Phil Ivey. A clutch call with pocket eights on a nine-high board sent Ferguson past Ivey and into the finals and the rest is history.
The win solidifies Ferguson’s status as the most dominant player in NBC Heads-Up history, putting his win-loss total at 16-3.
Congratulations to both Chris Ferguson and runner-up Andy Bloch for two very outstanding performances.
That concludes our coverage of the 2008 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championships from Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, NV. Our next stop on the tournament trail takes us across the Atlantic Ocean to Warsaw, Poland for the EPT Polish Open beginning Tuesday, March 11th.
Until next time, good night and good luck!
The hand saw Ferguson open the pot pre-flop with a 25,000 raise; Andy Bloch simply called. The flop came
and Bloch passed the first action to Ferguson who led out with a 35,000 bet. Bloch then check-raised, making it a total of 105,000 to go; Ferguson just called.The
fell off on the turn and Bloch led out with a 150,000 bet which Ferguson countered by shoving all of his chips into the middle. Bloch tanked for quite some time, eventually opting to let a coin-flip determine his fate. "Heads I call, tails I fold," said Bloch, before tossing a quarter into the air and onto the table. The fateful quarter landed heads-up, fittingly, and true to his word, Andy made the call, revealing 
to the eager crowd. Ferguson then rolled over two black jacks and held a lead in the hand with one card to come.After a mandatory pause for dramatic effect, the dealer placed the
on the river - a winning card for Ferguson, who threw his arms, fists clenched, high into the air in victory.
was way behind the 
of "Jesus." As the flop was spread, the 
showed in the window and the other two cards (ultimately irrelevant) were the jack and deuce of clubs. The turn brought the
giving Ferguson four ladies and that was all she wrote. Ferguson's fans marveled at Chris' quads, the culmination of a spectacular come-from-behind win that knotted up the match, 1-1.
The hand saw Ferguson make it 100,000 to go from the button and Bloch made the call. Andy then open-shoved after the flop came
and Ferguson made the call, tabling a pocket pair of jacks; Bloch revealed the 
for an up and down straight draw.An intriguing
fell on the turn, giving Bloch additional outs for trips or two pair, but the 
on the river cemented the hand for Ferguson, who now holds a dominating chip lead over his opponent.
(Ferguson) and 
(Bloch).Ferguson was the all-in player and he lived to see another day, after the
board granted him an extended stay.Bloch still has a slight chip lead after the hand, but at this point, it's anybody's game to win.
The blinds have just jumped to 15,000-30,000, so perhaps a change of pace is in the near future.