Eight players remain as the $25,000 buy-in, $800,000 guaranteed heads-up tournament hits the home stretch
One of the more interesting major poker events in recent memory yielded a slew of intriguing storylines over this past weekend’s play. The WPT Heads Up Championship saw the original field of 32 whittled down to the final eight, with four quarterfinal matches slated for Monday.
All four remaining matches are worth a watch on the World Poker Tour Twitch channel today. The final eight players trim down to four tonight, with those four players returning Tuesday to play the last two rounds.
Here’s a look at the quarterfinal matches from the WPT Heads Up Championship:
Dan Smith vs. Sam Greenwood
Two familiar foes on the high roller tournament circuit square off in the round of eight. Both Dan Smith and Sam Greenwood stand among the top 25 on the Hendon Mob all-time tournament earnings list.
While neither is known as a heads-up specialist, the presence of these two players in the quarterfinals comes as no surprise. Smith toppled superstar music artist Steve Aoki in the first round, then took down Jean-Robert Bellande in round two.
Greenwood got the best of one of the world’s top HUNL players, Kevin Rabichow, in the round of 32. That yielded a match between Greenwood and chess player Alexandra Botez, with Greenwood taking the victory.
Patrik Antonius vs. Stefan11222
One of poker’s all-time legends takes on one of the game’s best online players of the current era in another quarterfinal matchup.
Patrik Antonius has done it all in poker, including plenty of time dedicated to the HUNL streets. Antonius took on Tom Dwan in the “Durrrr Challenge,” the original heads-up challenge from the “poker boom” era of the game.
The WPT Heads Up Championship bracket put the possibility of a round two matchup between Antonius and Dwan in play. Antonius defeated Japanese pop star Gackt in the first round, but ended up playing (and defeating) Doug Polk in round two.
Stefan1122 beat two tough opponents (Timothy Adams and Daniel Dvoress) to reach the round of eight.
Chris Kruk vs. Wiktor “Limitless” Malinowski
Two legends in the online poker realm face off on the right side of the round of eight bracket. Chris Kruk entered the WPT Heads Up Championship with a reputation as a world-class online tournament player, only recently adding a few live appearances on the high roller tournament circuit.
The loaded right side of the 32-player bracket forced Kurk to get through Nick Schulman and Oliver Busquet to reach the quarterfinals.
Malinowski’s poker reputation comes from his prowess at the online cash game tables. The player known as “Limitless” has proven formidable in the heads-up sit & go format so far, taking down longtime rival Linus “LLinusLLove” Loeliger in the first round.
Malinowski defeated another top-flight online player, “ButtonClickr,” in the round of 16.
Phil Ivey vs. Stephen Chidwick
In a lineup of great matches, the pairing of Phil Ivey and Stephen Chidwick headlines the round of eight. Chidwick is considered by many of his peers as the world’s top tournament player, with many weeks spent on the top of the Global Poker Index player rankings.
Ivey’s reputation needs no introduction. The 10-time WSOP bracelet winner was considered the best player in the world for much of the “poker boom” era and now enjoys status as one of the game’s all-time legends.
Ivey defeated Manig Loeser and Anthony Zinno to make it through to the quarterfinals. Chidwick took down Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger and Darren Elias to clinch his spot in the round of eight.
Joey Ingram is on hand in Mexico to call all of the action on the World Poker Tour Twitch channel throughout the Heads Up Championship. You can keep an eye on Ingram’s Twitter page for updates on starting times for all of today’s quarterfinal matches.
Featured image source: Twitch
