2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Field Will Include Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey and Emmitt Smith

Published on February 23rd, 2011 7:59 pm EST

National Heads-Up Poker ChampionshipThe line-up for the 7th annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship was unveiled earlier today.

The 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which is set to run from March 4th to 6th, will feature "a dozen World Series of Poker Main Event champions, top all-time money winners, online studs and Academy Award nominees".

In total, 64 players will be battling it out for $1.8 million in total prize money this year, as the buy-in for invited players has been raised from $20,000 to $25,000. The eventual winner of this year’s event will walk away with $750,000 (up from $500,000 last year), while the runner-up will take home $300,000.

The Godaddy.com Draw Party will be held at PURE Nightclub at Caesars Palace on Thursday, March 3th. The tournament will get underway at the Caesars Palace Poker Tournament Room on Friday, March 4th. NBC’s television coverage of the event will begin on April 17th.

Past winners of the National Heads-Up Championship include Phil Hellmuth, Ted Forrest, Paul Wasicka and Annie Duke.

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Here is the full line-up for this year’s event:

Jason Alexander
Patrik Antonius
Eric Baldwin
David Benyamine
Andy Bloch
Liv Boeree
James Bord
Doyle Brunson
Joe Cada
Daniel "jungleman12" Cates
Johnny Chan
Don Cheadle
Nicolas Chouity
Allen Cunningham
Jonathan Duhamel
Annie Duke
Tom "durrrr" Dwan
Peter Eastgate
Eli Elezra
Antonio Esfandiari
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
Ted Forrest
Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond
Phil Gordon
Barry Greenstein
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier
Joe Hachem
Gus Hansen
Jennifer Harman
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Ivey
Faraz Jaka
John Juanda
Gabe Kaplan
Frank Kassela
Eugene Katchalov
Phil Laak
Howard Lederer
Erick Lindgren
Ayaz Mahmood
Thomas Marchese
Mike Matusow
Jason Mercier
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi
Sorel Mizzi
Chris Moneymaker
Daniel Negreanu
Scotty Nguyen
Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad
Dennis Phillips
Dwyte Pilgrim
John Racener
Greg Raymer
Vanessa Rousso
Kara Scott
Huck Seed
Erik Seidel
Vanessa Selbst
Emmitt Smith
Gavin Smith
Jennifer Tilly
Melburn Whitmire
David Williams
Justin Young

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Source: NBCSports.MSNBC.com - Another Stacked Heads Up Field For 2011

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Filed Under: Poker on Television

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