Day 1: Stars shine in exciting event

With a sold-out venue (128 players max.), Concord was the host of a true poker legends get-together. The buy-in for this event being a mere 1000 Euros, compared to the 3000 Euros it used to be in previous years, and with a whopping 25,000 Euros added to the prize pool by the generous sponsor of this event (Paradise Poker), this event has to be the best value in the world. Having said that, there is hardly any "easy money" for the pros, simply because there are so many of them (pros, that is). On this first day, not all players have been in action yet, but we have seen the following, impressive, list of names. From the U.S, we had Scotty Nguyen, Miami John Cernuto, Barbara Enright, and the absolute star of the even, Phil Hellmuth. We had Australian masters Mel Judah and Jeff Lisandro, plus British stars Joe Beevers, Jac Arama, Surinder Sunar, Padraig Parkinson and Barney Boatman. Then we had Russian youngster Kirill Gerasimov, former WSOP-winner Carlos Mortensen, Europe's Player of the Year 2001 Marcel Lüske, and some top Vienna-based players like Peter Karall, Jin Cai Lin, Markus Golser and Tibor Tolnai. And finally, we had some former big event winners like Martin Aigner (E-WSOP 2002 winner in this same venue) and Angelo Yu Zuoping, winner of the Main Event at Holland Casino's Master Classics of Poker 2002.

The tournament's structure

The structure of the event is rather simple. The 128 contestants are divided into four brackets, like in tennis. The winners of every round 1 match will play against another round 1 winner from their bracket, to be more precise they will play against the person who is standing immediately above or below them in the schedule. What comes from this is that just like in tennis, people will often feel they have gotten a lucky or unlucky draw, because of the quality of the opposing players in their bracket. In this tourney, bracket # 2 seems to be especially star-studded, which means that some cracking matches are to be expected.

All participating players get 5,000 in tournament chips, with the blinds starting at 50-100. After one hour of play, the blinds will become 75-150, and after two hours they will be 100-200. There will be no more blind increases after that, to make this tournament a "true test of skill".

Bracket # 1

Let's start today's report with bracket # 1, where one of the top favorites to lift the trophy, Marcel "Dutch Flying Fox" Lüske, seemed to have gotten a lucky draw with Victor Chandler satellite winner, and Oxford University student Ben Pygall. But after only thirty minutes of play, it was Ben who had an 8,000 to 2,000 chip lead, and Ben even got Marcel all-in at one time. However, Marcel fought back and gave away a sparkling performance to beat his young and relatively inexperienced opponent. Marcel finished Ben off when he caught a lucky straight on the river, holding 86 against his opponent's A6, who with top pair + nut-flush draw failed to bet enough to get Marcel out.

Another favorite to lift the trophy, the ultra-aggressive and highly capable Peter Karall from Austria, only needed about three minutes to beat David Kaye. When he flopped a set of deuces, his opponent wished he had not hit one of his overcards on the turn, because he was drawing dead. Peter had come to the event in his fast car, played fast and in turn made it a fast match: exactly the way we, tournament reporters like it.

The most memorable match today was probably the clash between Carlos Mortensen and the relatively unknown Zlatko Poschl. Carlos seemed to follow Peter's example when he was quickly up for a 9,600 to 400 chip lead, but Zlatko did the totally unexpected: turn things around. First, he doubled up with 98 against Carlos' K2, to beat his top pair by making two smaller pairs. He then doubled up again, when, holding a nine, he saw two nines on the board, and he persuaded Carlos into giving him action. Carlos was still in the lead, holding 75% of the chips, but this lead was gone when he went all-in with QJ on a QhTs9h flop, and his opponent had a draw that got there (eight-six of hearts for a double belly buster straight- and flush-draw). A jack came on the river that improved Carlos' hand to two pair, but that improved Zlatko's hand even more, so the underdog was now suddenly in the lead. He finished off Carlos when once again, he flopped three of a kind and persuaded his opponent into giving him action- this time with top two pair / good kicker. In what must have been one of the most exciting matches ever in World Heads Up history, one of the top favorites was out, having lost a 96 to 4 percent chip lead!

Results + key hands bracket 1

Mark Duran - Charlie T* (2h15)
Mark had survived six all-ins when being extremely short-stacked, but when he finally got some chips he was out. Holding J8 against Charlie's 98 on an 872 flop, Charlie was drawing dead to his kicker- which he hit on the river.

Claudio Kemeny - Joseph Noujeim (0h23)
Joseph, in his usual solid fashion, got through when his king-ten improved on the river over Claudio's king-queen. Claudio probably thought he didn't need to bet that big on the flop and turn because of the king on the board, but he lost his entire stack on the river when Joseph spiked a ten.

Kirill Gerasimov* - Ronny Rivedal (5h11)

Peter Karall* - David Kaye (0h04)

Jarle Aasen* - Jorn Stirn Muller (2h14)
A match played in a very friendly atmosphere. A coin flip decided this match, when Jarle's AQ and Jorn's TT went all-in before the flop, with Jarle receiving help.

Jim Britton - Martin Aigner * (0h28)
In this short match, things went very smoothly for Martin. Holding pocket kings against Jim's jacks, nothing spectacular happened, and the kings held up.

Bernd Rygol* - Mark Bartlog (2h43)
In a rather long match, Brend's 96 was the deciding hand to bust out Mark, who couldn't hit one of his overcards to beat Bernd's top pair.

Thomas Brown - Salah Alsayegh* (0h59)
Thomas was unlucky to bust out holding AK on a KQ8 flop, only to find out his opponent had called his preflop raise with KQ for top two pair.

Franciso Narciso - David Harris* (4h30)
In an epic battle, where it first looked like David was going to win easily, Franciso then was close to victory, but in the end it was the youngest player of the event to go through. David, another Victor Chandler qualifier, caught Franciso bluffing in one of the key hands of this game, while holding a pair of aces himself. This hand helped him beat this very tough opponent, only to meet a probably even tougher one in the next match: Marcel Lüske.

Marcel Lüske* - Ben Pygall (1h15)

David Howard - Karel Kabrna*
A "walk" for Karel, as Internet qualifier David was unable to attend today's event.

Barney Boatman - Bob Coombes* (1h39)
Barney was obviously disappointed when he saw Bob Coombes come back from behind to beat him. He lost when all the money got in on the turn, but Barney's pair of aces + nut-flushdraw failed to improve over Bob's AJ, for a pair of aces with a better kicker.

Anthony Chapman* - Chister Lovas (0h34)
A solid win for Anthony, who had to make a very tough call on the river while holding QJ, facing a very scary board (KQ66J). His opponent was holding only nines though, and Anthony was through.

Carlos Mortensen - Zlatko Poschl* (1h54)

Arseniy Meshchekryakov - Ivo Donev* (1h47)
A good win for Ivo, who had also had a win at Concord's regular tournament week. Calling before the flop with AQ against A7, the best hand stood up.

Attila Foris - Scotty Nguyen* (2h25)
The flamboyant Scotty had a tough draw with Hungarian Attila Foris, who also had been successful at Concord's tournament week. Scotty was not willing to take any chances, so when all his chips went into the middle it seemed only logical for him to end up with a full house. Kudos to Attila however, who had been playing so well, but who just couldn't break the superstar he was facing.

Bracket # 2

All eyes were on the cracking match between one of Europe's top players, Surinder Sunar, and the star of this year's event, Phil Hellmuth. Surinder started out great, and after one hour he had about 7,000 point. But Phil changed gears, got back in the match and after three hours he had regained the lead. As expected, Phil and Surinder would try to avoid the risk of a big pot, and level of play was extremely high. After a long and grueling battle, Surinder had Phil all-in at one time, but Phil held the best hand (AJ vs. A2), and regained the lead again. He then clinched the match while holding ace-queen versus Surinder's king-ten on a AT8 flop in the longest match of the day: more than seven hours.

Other famous Americans in this part of the schedule were Barbara Enright and Miami John Cernuto. Barbara came back from behind to beat Faker Levin, who could not improve his fives against Barbara's kings in an all-in-before-the-flop coup. Miami John Cernuto was very lucky to win his match against top flight Aussie Jeff Lisandro. On two occasions, his mere top pair held up against Jeff's quality draws, and one the final hand he was even luckier. Betting all on the flop with aces, he was dead in the water against Jeff's set of treys, but he spiked an ace on the river to win the match. Another top Aussie who has made his mark on the international poker scene, Mel Judah, had to fight the excellent Padraig Parkinson- and lost as well. Having built an 8,000-2,000 chip lead, Mel seemed in total control, but Padraig fought back in this action-packed game, to beat his famous opponent.

Results + key hands bracket 2

Jeff Lisandro - John Cernuto* (1h54)

Jan Lundberg* - Tibor Tolnai (0h23)
Tibor was out when Jan called his check-raise on the turn against a KQT4 rainbow board. It was a tough call for Jan, holding queens and tens, but fortunately for him, Tibor did not hold the straight he was representing.

Faker Levin - Barbara Enright* (1h50)

Chister Johansson* - Stephen Pearce (0h18)
In one of the shortest matches of the day, Swede Chister Johansson beat Stephen Pearce. In a strange pot, with lots of money in the middle and a flop A54, Chister's 85 held up against Stephen's open-ended straight.

Markus Golser - Rory Liffey* (0h14)
A major upset was the quick and sudden exit by one of Austria's top players, Markus Golser. When the river gave him a straight, Markus seemed in good shape, but true gentleman Rory liked the river as well, sitting there waiting with his flush.

Helge Larson - Rudolf Millota* (2h06)
Local player Rudolf Millota went through by beating Helge Larson. His pair + straight draw (75 on a 654 flop) improved over Helge's Q6 by catching a third five.

Padraig Parkinson* - Mel Judah (1h15)

Surinder Sunar - Phil Hellmuth* (7h08)

Erich Kollmann* - Jin Cai Lin (0h45)
Another cracking match was this one. Jin, who is always a pleasure to watch, seemed to be on top of his game, but Erich played some tremendous poker as well. On the final hand, Jin had to think for a very long time before calling Erich's massive raise. On the flop 8s5s4d, Jin held an overpair (TT), but Erich had an even better hand: the six-four of spades for a pair, an inside straight draw and straight flush draw. When Jin finally decided to call Erich's raise and saw his hand, he obviously hoped for blanks, but didn't get any. First, a six came to give his opponent two pair, and then the seven of spades came on the river- to give Erich a straight flush!

Alexandre Tarasenko* - Harry Demetriou (1h03)
Harry was rather unlucky to lose his match against Alexandre. In only two minutes time, he first had to settle for a split when he held AJ against A8, and then he held a quality draw (75 of hearts on a 943 flop with two hearts) that never got there against Alexandre's AK. Having said that, Alexandre did play well, and I'm curious to see how he will perform in the next couple of days.

Wolfgang Pilecki - Randy Holland* (1h55)
In a match with more preflop raises and re-raises than in any other match, Randy came out on top. Randy had come over the top of his opponent on quite a few occasions, when Wolfgang could not, or would not, call. On the final hand, Randy's AJ had the better kicker against Wolfgang's QJ, when a jack came on the board.

Rino Mathis - Jac Arama* (0h24)
Jac will be very pleased with today's performance. In the first hand of any importance, all the money went in on the turn, and with three kings he had his opponent drawing dead.

Michael Legradi* - Robert Binelli (1h38)
The nice and friendly Michael will be even friendlier after today's match, where he played some good and solid poker. On the final hand, he went all-in with pocket treys, and was lucky to make a full house against his opponent's AQ.

Joe Beevers - Roy Brindley (1h18)
A high-quality match, where one of my personal favorites to win the title, Joe Beevers, got busted out. Right from the start, Roy captured the lead and Joe was simply unable to get back into the match. Roy not only played well, he caught some good flops as well, and his three fours were enough to send out Joe, who held two pair, eights and sevens.

Cem Tassalan - Angelo Yu Zuoping* (2h00)
In two hours time, Angelo lived up to his reputation as a dangerous player. He got lucky in the end though, when he made a stud play (calling with bottom pair / top kicker against an obvious middle pair), to win with aces up against Cem's pair of tens.

Mickey Wernick* - Sigi Stockinger (0h33)
Another potential winner, Sigi Stockinger, went out in a rather short match. Sigi was in there with 63 to make a straight, but Mickey's queen-ten of hearts improved to a flush not once, but twice.

Some final words

With so many stars in this event, it would seem only logical that some would leave. In an exciting first day of the World Heads Up Championship, some of the stars have lived up to their expectations, while for others the tournament is already over. Tomorrow, we can expect some more stars for their first match, when the field will be narrowed to 64.