NBC Heads-Up Poker Tourney Announces 16 Pro Poker Players

NBC just announced that 16 of the world's best poker players have already committed to play in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, including 2005 winner Phil Hellmuth, 2006 winner Ted Forrest, Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Joe Hachem, 2006 World Series of Poker winner Jamie Gold, and many more.

The tournament will be held March 1-4 at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. A satellite for the final seat will be held at Caesars Palace February 10 at 3 p.m. Buyin costs $230 and has $200 rebuys and a $200 add-on.

The 16 players named are:

Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Antonio Esfandiari, Sam Farha, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Jamie Gold, Joe Hachem, Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, and Greg Raymer.

The remaining participant names will be released shortly. All but 2 of the seats are by invitation. A single qualifier will come from freerolls played on the official website, while the last seat will be won at the previously mentioned satellite February 10 at Caesars Palace.

NBC also released the televised schedule for this Season 3's Championship:

Sun, April 8 - Noon to 1 p.m. ET (6-7 p.m. GMT) Round of 64, Part 1

April 15 - Noon to 1 p.m. ET (6-7 p.m. GMT) Round of 64, Part 2

April 22 - Noon to 1 p.m. ET (6-7 p.m. GMT) Round of 64, Part 3

April 29 - Noon to 2 p.m. ET (6-8 p.m. GMT) Round of 32

May 6 - Noon to 2 p.m. ET (6-8 p.m. GMT) Round of 16

May 13 - Noon to 2 p.m. ET (6-8 p.m. GMT) Quarterfinals

May 20 - Noon to 3 p.m. ET (6-9 p.m. GMT) Semifinals and Finals (Best 2 of 3)

For more information visit NBC's site at: http://www.nbcheadsup.com/headlines.html

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