PGT Heads-Up Showdown Day 1 Recap: Negreanu, Seidel, Winter Advance
The first round of the first-ever PGT Heads-Up Showdown is complete, with 16 players advancing to the second round. Among the group to advance are Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, Sean Winter, and Shannon Shorr.
The first-ever PGT Heads-Up Showdown featured 32 players competing for $25,000 apiece, creating a prize pool of $800,000. The top four places will make the money. First place is worth $400,000, second place is $200,000, and then third and fourth places will earn $100,000 each.
Negreanu Highlights Opening-Flight Action
The opening day of action was broken down into two flights of 16 players. In the early flight, Negreanu defeated Jared Bleznick, and Seidel topped Jared Jaffee. Jaffee was a late addition to the field after Dylan Gang backed out.
The first elimination of the day came when Landon Tice five-bet shoved all in with ace-four of spades against Darren Elias’ ace-king. Tice flopped a flush draw but it didn’t come home and he was the first player to hit the rail.
Negreanu knocked out Bleznick on the main feature table. Negreanu had built his way into a sizable chip lead before finally sealing the deal with king-queen against Bleznick’s ace-seven. Although Bleznick flopped an ace, Negreanu completed an inside straight draw on the turn to win the hand.
Seidel took out Jaffee with a flopped set of tens against Jaffee’s top pair of queens. Seidel’s hand held up to bust Jaffee from the tournament.
Joining Elias, Negreanu, and Seidel in advancing from the first flight were Tamon Nakamura, Chino Rheem, Jeremy Ausmus, Jake Daniels, and Bill Klein. Nakamura beat Stanley Tang, Rheem defeated Nick Schulman, Ausmus topped Chris Brewer, Daniels got past Ali Imsirovic, and Klein advanced over Phil Galfond.
Rewatch the live stream of the opening flight with the archived stream on the PokerGO YouTube channel.
Hellmuth-Persson Take Center Stage in Second Flight
In the second flight, Winter scored the first knockout blow when he took out Sam Soverel to advance to the Round of 16. Winter had ace-ten and beat Soverel’s ten-eight.
Shorr took out Shaun Deeb later in the day to get his first-round victory.
The match of the day took place center stage at the feature table, with Phil Hellmuth and Eric Persson going blow for blow both with their poker play and verbally. Plenty of verbal jabs were hurled at one another, and Persson even flipped double middle fingers to Hellmuth. The two were both given a warning, and ultimately it was Persson coming out on top. Hellmuth fell short on chips and moved in with king-three. Persson had two aces, quickly called, and his aces held up.
In addition to Winter, Shorr, and Persson advancing from the later opening-round flight, Isaac Kempton beat Scott Seiver to move on, Dan Shak topped Nicholas Rigby, Justin Young beat Richie Sklar, Alex Foxen beat Simon Yu, and Scott Ball defeated Alex Livingston.
For those looking to relive the action from the second opening-round flight, you can rewatch the live stream on the PokerGO YouTube channel.
Updated PGT Heads-Up Showdown Bracket
Day 2 will see two rounds play out inside the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. First will be the Round of 16 starting at 12 p.m. PT. The winners from that round will advance to the quarterfinals later in the day. A live stream of play will be available on PokerGO.com starting at 1 p.m. PT.
Connect with PokerGO.com on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Use code “HEADSUP22WEB” for $20 off an annual PokerGO subscription now!
Sean Winter, Alex Foxen, Shannon Shorr, and Justin Young Advance to Round of 16
In the spades portion of the Round of 32, Sean Winter, Alex Foxen, Shannon Shorr, and Justin Young advance to the Round of 16 on Friday, April 22.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Foxen | 400,000 |
200,000  |
| Justin Young | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Sean Winter | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Shannon Shorr | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Sam Soverel | Busted |
-200,000  |
| Shaun Deeb | Busted |
-200,000 |
| Richard Sklar | Busted |
-200,000 |
| Simon Yu | Busted |
-200,000 |
Eric Persson, Dan Shak, Scott Ball, and Isaac Kempton Advance to Round of 16
In the hearts portion of the Round of 32, Eric Persson, Dan Shak, Scott Ball, and Isaac Kempton advance to the Round of 16 on Friday, April 22.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Dan Shak | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Scott Ball | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Isaac Kempton | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Eric Persson | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Phil Hellmuth | Busted |
-200,000 |
| Scott Seiver | Busted |
-200,000 |
| Alex Livingston | Busted |
-200,000 |
| Nicholas Rigby | Busted |
-200,000 |
Round of 32 (Diamonds / Spades) Underway on PokerGO.com Now!
The four matches from the diamonds bracket and four matches from the spades bracket are now underway in the PGT Heads-Up Showdown.
Watch all the action on PokerGO.com and the PokerGO YouTube channel and see who advances into the Round of 16.
Chino Rheem, Jeremy Ausmus, Jake Daniels, and Bill Klein Advance
In the diamonds portion of the Round of 32, Chino Rheem, Jeremy Ausmus, Jake Daniels, and Bill Klein advance to the Round of 16 on Friday, April 22.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Klein | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Jeremy Ausmus | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| David Chino Rheem | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Jake Daniels | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Ali Imsirovic | Busted |
-200,000 |
| Nick Schulman | Busted |
-200,000 |
| Phil Galfond | Busted |
-200,000 |
| Chris Brewer | Busted |
-200,000 |
Daniel Negreanu, Tamon Nakamura, Erik Seidel, and Darren Elias Advance to Round of 16
In the clubs portion of the Round of 32, Daniel Negreanu, Tamon Nakamura, Erik Seidel, and Darren Elias advance to the Round of 16 on Friday, April 22.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel Negreanu | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Erik Seidel | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Tamon Nakamura | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Darren Elias | 400,000 |
200,000 |
| Jared Jaffee | Busted |
-200,000 |
| Jared Bleznick | Busted |
-200,000 |
| Landon Tice | Busted |
-200,000 |
| Stanley Tang | Busted |
-200,000 |
Round of 32 (Clubs / Hearts) Underway on PokerGO.com Now!
The four matches from the clubs bracket and four matches from the hearts bracket are now underway in the PGT Heads-Up Showdown.
Watch all the action on PokerGO.com and the PokerGO YouTube channel and see who advances into the Round of 16.
Round of 32
Spades
Sam Soverel vs. Sean Winter
Alex Foxen vs. Simon Yu
Shannon Shorr vs. Shaun Deeb
Justin Young vs. Richie Sklar
Clubs
Jared Bleznick vs. Daniel Negreanu
Tamon Nakamura vs. Stanley Tang
Jared Jaffee vs. Erik Seidel
Darren Elias vs. Landon Tice
Diamonds
Chino Rheem vs. Nick Schulman
Jeremy Ausmus vs. Chris Brewer
Ali Imsirovic vs. Jake Daniels
Bill Klein vs. Phil Galfond
Hearts
Nicholas Rigby vs. Dan Shak
Eric Persson vs. Phil Hellmuth
Alex Livingston vs. Scott Ball
Scott Seiver vs. Isaac Kempton
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Foxen | 200,000 | - |
| Ali Imsirovic | 200,000 | - |
| Bill Klein | 200,000 | - |
| Dan Shak | 200,000 | - |
| Daniel Negreanu | 200,000 | - |
| Justin Young | 200,000 | - |
| Nick Schulman | 200,000 | - |
| Phil Hellmuth | 200,000 | - |
| Sam Soverel | 200,000 | - |
| Sean Winter | 200,000 | - |
| Jared Jaffee | 200,000 | - |
| Jeremy Ausmus | 200,000 | - |
| Erik Seidel | 200,000 | - |
| Scott Ball | 200,000 | - |
| Phil Galfond | 200,000 | - |
| Jared Bleznick | 200,000 | - |
| Scott Seiver | 200,000 | - |
| Shaun Deeb | 200,000 | - |
| Tamon Nakamura | 200,000 | - |
| Darren Elias | 200,000 | - |
| Shannon Shorr | 200,000 | - |
| Alex Livingston | 200,000 | - |
| Richard Sklar | 200,000 | - |
| David Chino Rheem | 200,000 | - |
| Jake Daniels | 200,000 | - |
| Chris Brewer | 200,000 | - |
| Landon Tice | 200,000 | - |
| Isaac Kempton | 200,000 | - |
| Stanley Tang | 200,000 | - |
| Eric Persson | 200,000 | - |
| Nicholas Rigby | 200,000 | - |
| Simon Yu | 200,000 | - |
PGT Heads-Up Showdown Kicks Off on Thursday, April 21, at 12 p.m. PT
Welcome to the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the inaugural $25,000 buy-in PGT Heads-Up Showdown.
The 32-player field includes PGT players, high-stakes poker players, businessmen, and celebrities that will compete for the $400,000 first-place prize over three days of play. The 32-player field is split into four brackets; clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades, and Day 1 will play out the Round of 32 with clubs and diamonds underway at 12 p.m. PT, while hearts and spades play at 4 p.m. PT.
Each round will see players begin with 200,000 in starting chips with blinds starting at 1,000/2,000 and levels lasting 20 minutes. Day 1 will see the Round of 32, while Day 2 will play the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals. The final day will be the Semifinals and Finals. The finals will see starting stacks increased to 250,000.
The entirety of the PGT Heads-Up Showdown will be live-streamed on PokerGO.com with Ali Nejad and Brian Rast on commentary, and Jeff Platt on sideline duties. There will also be a free Day 1 stream on PokerGO’s YouTube channel with Remko Rinkema and Donnie Peters on commentary duties.
Cards are expected to be in the air for the clubs and diamonds portion of the Round of 32 at 12 p.m. PT on Thursday, April 21, from the PokerGO Studio.
Connect with PokerGO.com on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Use code “HEADSUP22WEB” for $20 off an annual PokerGO subscription now!
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