Of all the different poker variations out there, Texas Hold’em is by far the most televised. The reasons for Texas Holdem’s sudden popularity are many, but one aspect of the game that helps capture the thrill on TV is the community cards. With the help of ‘hole- cams’ revealing each player’s hole cards, the entire action can be unfolded before the viewers. Though there are other community poker games available, Hold’em has the simplest rules and is the easiest to follow. If you add the ‘Heads-Up’ aspect to the game, Texas Hold’em becomes a true TV treat.

Heads-Up Hold’em is the same old game played with only two players facing each other. Any one-on-one sports situation is dramatic, and Heads-Up is exactly that – a mix between poker and a wrestling competition, it’s the ultimate psychological battle. In 2005, following the lockout in the National Hockey League which resulted in the cancellation of an entire season, producers in the NBC network were looking for a new sports program to fill the sudden gap in the schedule. They were inspired by the resent worldwide success of televised poker, specifically by the World Heads-Up Poker Championship, and established the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. The World Championship is an open event with a maximum of 128 players. The American National competition, on the other hand, is an invitation-only event, featuring 64 of the world's best poker players.

The 64 players are randomly divided into four brackets - Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades. They are then randomly seeded and paired, and advance to the next round by winning, or are immediately eliminated after a loss. The only exception is the final round, which is played in a best-of-three format to determine the champion.

2008 was the fourth time the National Heads-Up Poker Championship took place. It started on Friday, February 29th, and ended three days later, on March 2nd. There were many exiting moments, both for poker and for TV. Some poker-loving celebrities were invited, including Jason Alexander, Jennifer Tilly, Don Cheadle and Shannon Elizabeth. Unlike last year, when Elizabeth and Cheadle did extremely well, this year all the celebrities were knocked out in the first round.

There were many surprises from the very beginning. 2007 NHPC champion Paul Wasicka lost to Freddy Deebin the first round. Another upset was Phil Hellmuth loosing in the first round to online poker phenomenon Tom Dwan, after going all in with pocket aces. Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, and 2007 NHPC runner-up Chad Brown were also eliminated in the first round.

At the end of the three-day stretch there were two left standing at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson and Andy Bloch were to face each other in the final round. Both finalists are highly educated, and are known for their intelligent play and their use of mathematically-sound strategy. Ferguson has a PHD in computer science from UCLA (and both his parents are mathematics professors!). Bloch holds two electrical engineering degrees from MIT, as well as a JD from Harvard Law School. The final was described as a minimal-error game by many poker critics.

This was the third time in four years that Ferguson reached the finals. After the first part of the ‘best-of-three’ round, Bloch was in the lead, and it looked as if Ferguson would have to settle for second place once again. But Ferguson came back to take both the second and third games, and emerged as the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Champion. He walked home with $500,000 USD, and became the player to win the most money in the championship’s short history, with over $1 million USD in total winnings.

The tournament will be broadcasted on NBC during April and May, and will air over six consecutive Sundays, beginning on April 13.

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