by Hillary LaClair, Senior Editor
April 17, 2009
Go Daddy will sponsor NBC's broadcast of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship this year. The tournament is scheduled to begin airing on NBC Sunday at Noon ET and airs each Sunday through May 17. Included in the field of 64 is a number of esteemed traditional and online poker professionals as well as a mix of poker-playing celebrities like Shannon Elizabeth, Don Cheadle and Jason Alexander. The field was divided into four brackets named for the suits of cards. Also scheduled to compete are Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey.
Go Daddy filmed special poker-themed commercials in Las Vegas which are set to air during the Go Daddy-sponsored broadcasts on NBC. Go Daddy Girl and Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso, will be featured in the ads with Go Daddy Girl and IndyCar Series' most popular driver, Danica Patrick, original Go Daddy Girl Candice Michelle and Go Daddy's CEO and Founder Bob Parsons.
“We couldn't be more pleased to have GoDaddy.com as our presenting sponsor for this amazing event,' said Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports. 'Everyone knows Go Daddy only aligns itself with major sporting events and we are thrilled to be partnered on our National Heads-Up Poker Championship.”
The players will compete in the bracket-style head-to-head format for $1.5 million in combined prize money at the Caesars Palace Poker Tournament Room in Las Vegas. In a press release, Go Daddy CEO & Founder Bob Parsons commented, "The popularity of poker has grown thanks in large part to television and the Internet." They added, "Being an industry leader for domain names and Web sites, we only sponsor the most exciting events. NBC and Caesars Palace are assembling a top-notch tournament with world-class players and I look forward to seeing some great action."
This Sunday’s two hour broadcast will host Spades and Clubs brackets. In the Clubs bracket, poker legend Doyle Brunson will take on PokerStars and Rousso. 2008 WSOP H.O.R.S.E. champion Scotty Nguyen will compete against Hevad “Rain” Khan. Among a number of featured matches, viewers will see Daniel Negreanu’s fight with 2003 WSOP champion Chris Moneymaker and Full Tilt Poker’s Mike “The Mouth” Matusow against Italy’s poker prodigy Dario Minieri.
“The National Heads-Up Championship's exciting and unique one-on-one format creates the most compelling poker action anywhere," said Miller. "We've got another great lineup of talent for our fifth season, which will provide fans with the kind of riveting match-ups they have come to expect from our tournament."
The National Heads-Up Championship is a $20,000 buy-in invitation-only tournament organized as a series of one-on-one games of no limit hold'em matches. The participants include many of the world's best poker players. The NBC Heads Up Poker Championship was the first to be broadcast on a national broadcast network.
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