I was officially invited to try to defend my title as NBC National Heads Up Champ. No one has ever won it twice, although Chris “Jesus” Ferguson has taken second in back-to-back years.

 

Last year’s Heads Up was a complete whirlwind for me. I didn’t even know I’d be in it until about 12 hours befoer the first match. Once I busted out of LAPC, I drove to Vegas, caught a few hours of sleep, and headed to Caesars to play Eli Elezra. I ran well there and managed to catch a nap before round two. Mercifully, the matches are short because if I’d had to grind out more than an hour or so, I’d never have made it through the first few.

After seeing the tv coverage I would definitely have done a few things differently. I hadn’t actually played that much heads up before the tourney and I think it showed in some of my earlier rounds. At any rate, I got some good advice along the way, ran relatively well, and made a few correct calls at critical times.

 

This year it looks like Brian “sbrugby” Townsend, Jonathan Little, and WSOP main event winner Jerry Yang have been invited. I’ve played a little with Brian and Jonathan and they are both great players. Their success speaks for itself. I’ve never played with Jerry but he seems like a good guy and I’m glad he’ll be in the mix.

Shannon Elizabeth will be back too, which is cool. She and I had an epic battle, one that I barely came escaped from.

 

I really love playing Heads Up because unlike other tournaments where you might fold for an hour straight, when it’s just one vs. one, it’s all action all the time. I officially accepted today and even though the event is still months away, I’m already getting excited!