The NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship bracket has just been set with a field of 64. We can look forward to a showdown between Jason Mercier and Daniel Negreanu in the opening round, as both poker pros have been really hot lately. Also, another familiar face will include 2007 World Series of Poker Europe champion the 21-year-old Annette Obrestad and High Stakes Poker’s new host Kara Scott. Other matchups include Phil Hellmuth vs. Howard Lederer, Erick Seidel vs. Huck Seed (the defending champ), as well as Barry Greenstein vs. Vanessa Rousso.

Included among the famous faces of poker, is Team Bodog's David Williams, who has played every year since the show's beginnings in 2005 and was the runner-up to Greg Raymer in the WSOP main event in 2004. Williams will be seated at the featured table facing Joe Cada in the first round. Cada will be making his heads-up debut after winning the World Series of Poker main event in November. Known for playing aggressive poker, Williams is also know for sporting interesting threads including a diamond-studded toothpick that usually gets him razzed by fellow players.

Here’s a list of the best known players selected from the 64 competitors in the NBC's Heads-Up Poker Championship:

Patrik Antonius, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Don Cheadle, Allen Cunningham, Annie Duke, Tom Dwan, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Jamie Gold, Phil Gordon, Barry Greenstein, Joe Hachem, Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman, Orel Hershiser, Jesper Hougaard, John Juanda, Gabe Kaplan, Phil Laak, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, Mike Matusow, Dario Minieri, Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen, Annette Obrestad, Dennis Phillips, Greg Raymer, Kara Scott, Erik Seidel, Mike Sexton, Gavin Smith, Jennifer Tilly, and of course David Williams.

The tournament hits television airwaves on NBC beginning on April 18th and will run for six Sundays consecutively. Play begins Saturday, March 6 at 1 p.m.

Spoiler Alert (for those waiting to watch it on TV)

UPDATE: David Williams has beaten last year's WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada to advance to the second round on Saturday where he will take on Eric Seidel who beat Huck Seed.

It seems like ages since we last heard from Bodog Pro David Williams, so we at the Beat thought it was high time we checked in with the 'cool as a cucumber' dude from Las Vegas.

"I had a few cashes in the WSOP although I didn't play as many as I normally do. For the previous four years I've played around 33 events, this year I played 12 and cashed in two, with one final table. Not great but not bad at all. I also made a deep run in the NBC Heads Up Poker Championships and finished in fifth, with this being my first time cashing in the event. I really worked on my heads up game and was excited for the event."

Williams tells us that he's getting set to return to the NBC Heads Up Poker Championships, where he hopes to improve on last year's finish. "As soon as that's over it's off to San Jose for the WPT Shooting Stars event at the Bay 101," Williams added. "Then when I come back to Vegas the $5000 buy-in Wynn Poker Classic Main event starts the following Monday."

Taken from the new article, "Catching Up with Bodog Pro David Williams."

Think you've got what it takes to go head-to-head against David Williams? Play online poker at Bodog for your chance to go up against a Bodog Pro!

The first matches today will be from the Heart Bracket and will feature some interesting face-offs, including poker old-timers Eli Elezra and Johnny Chan, fellow shareholders Erick Lindgren and Howard Lederer, perennial punchline Jamie Gold and Scott Fischman and then Bodog poker pro David Williams and Johnny Chan.

Other interesting first-round match-ups include Doyle Brunson vs. Vanessa Rousso, Mike Matusow vs. Dario Minieri (there may be too much fodder there for Matusow to keep his mouth shut, we'll set the "scarf joke" line at 42), two nosebleed stake online players David Benyamine vs. Gus Hansen and poker's first Triple Crown winner Gavin Griffin vs. Tom "durrrr" Dwan, who is online poker personified.

Check out the full list of match-ups and a printable bracket at the NBC site here. NBC will also have live updates from the tournament, as will CardPlayer. We'll post as we see fit over the weekend. Don't forget to check out the Heads-Up Poker Championship prop bet in the Bodog Sportsbook now that the matches have been set. Should be much easier to get an idea of who may have the "easiest" route to the $500,000 first-place prize.

Featuring 64 of the best heads-up poker players in the world, the NHUPC takes place at Caesar's Palace this weekend – March 7-8 – and will pay out $500,000 to the winner. Bodog oddsmakers have been busy with their calculators and complex algorithms coming up with lines for the participants and they are now up and available in the Bodog Sportsbook.

As the defending champion, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson is the favorite of the Bodog oddsmakers and poker pundits alike, but by no means an overwhelming one at 22/1. Nipping at his heels at 25/1 is a collection of players that you would expect to see as near-favorites, online poker phenom Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu, and they are followed by Johnathan "FieryJustice" Little and Andy Bloch, who was Ferguson's heads-up opponent in the final last year, at 30/1.

Getting no respect for his deep run last year is baseball great Orel Hershiser, who is staring down 95/1 odds that he will win this event. In fact, none of the celebrities participating this year are getting good odds. So, if you're looking for a long shot to take a chance on, look no further than movie star Don Cheadle and TV star Brad Garrett at 90/1.

Other notables in the field include Bodog poker pro David Williams, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and 2008 WSOP Main Event final tablist Ivan Demidov all at 40/1.

For a full listing, check out Bodog's NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship prop bets and place your bets now.

Over at ESPN.com, Andrew Feldman (ESPN.com Poker Editor) got together some of the best known poker pundits out there – ESPN.com columnists Gary Wise and Bernard Lee, Lance Bradley (Bluff Magazine), Paul McGuire (Tao of Poker), Chops Preiss (Wicked Chops Poker) and Dan Michalski (Pokerati) – to rank the field for their own March Madness-style bracketology.

So, head over to ESPN.com and check out the full National Heads-Up Poker Championship rankings and come back here for more updates on the heads-up poker competition.

Here are the top ten players as voted on by the above participants:

1. Chris Ferguson
2. Phil Ivey
3. Ted Forrest
4. Andy Bloch
5. Allen Cunningham
6. Phil Hellmuth
7. Kenny Tran
8. Tom Dwan
9. Daniel Negreanu
10. Barry Greenstein

The four poker players tapped to take part are known as some of the best heads-up players in the world and they are also the last four winners of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Poker legend Phil Hellmuth won the first incarnation of the championship in 2005, Ted Forrest won the next year in 2006, Paul Wasicka took down the 2007 event and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson won this year's National Heads-Up Poker title.

Each player will be putting $50,000 on the line, and the winner will take home the entire $200,000 prize pool. The show will have a double-elimination format with the initial pairings set to be Forrest against Hellmuth and Wasicka against Ferguson.

The match began airing on NBC late night Monday at 2:05 a.m., July 28, and still has two more episodes to go in that same time slot. A special program called the “Director’s Cut” will air late night Saturday, August 2, at 1:00 a.m., right after Saturday Night Live. This show will feature a behind-the-scenes look at the week with highlights and player interviews. The episodes can also be seen at the newly-overhauled NBC Poker site.

Chris Ferguson finally scratched an itch he's had for four years when he won the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship. (Bodog Beat Image)

This week Bodog Nation takes a look at the recent surge of big name poker pros doing exactly what they are supposed to do – win.

After coming second in 2005 and 2006 in the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship many people had their money on Chris Ferguson to win in 2007. But after getting eliminated in the first round Ferguson was relieved of the expectations to win in 2008 which of course allowed him to do just that.

Leading up to the recent WPT LA Poker Classic, Phil Ivey, widely regarded as the best poker player on the planet, had the distinction of having seen seven WPT final tables -more than any other player. But this was Ivey’s year as he finally got what he deserved and won the LA Poker Classic and the $1,596,100 that went with it.

Read all about these and other landmark victories in Bodog Nation’s "Just Deserts: Ferguson and Ivey".

Poker pro Chris "Jesus" Ferguson won the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship last night. (Bodog Beat Image)

It definitely turned into a weekend of breakthrough performances by big name poker pros on the poker circuit. After Phil Ivey's albatross-relieving win at the WPT LA Poker Classic that came after seven unsuccessful WPT final table appearances, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson took down the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship after finishing second two out of the three previous years.

To get the win, Ferguson had to play probably the toughest slate of any other competitior. He went up against John Juanda, Gavin Smith, Mike Matusow, Jonathan "FieryJustice" Little, Ivey and, finally, Andy Bloch for the championship match. Ferguson pockets $500,000 and exposure on a major network for the win.

At one point, when Ivey reached the final four, it looked like his hot streak was going to carry him to back-to-back wins just a couple of days after winning impressively at the LA Poker Classic. However, Ivey's luck failed him against "Jesus," who, much like Ivey did a few days before, seemed destined to win this event after coming so close before.

If you want the chance to take on a poker pro face to face, then get in on some online poker tournament action and work your way up the Bodog weekly tournament leader board and get a free crack at one of Bodog's poker pros and some serious dough.

Bodog poker pro David Williams is at the 2008 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship today. (Bodog Beat Image)

Some of the biggest names in the poker world descended on PURE Nightclub in Las Vegas for the kickoff of the 2008 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship.

The party served a dual purpose as a chance for poker's best to mingle in a non-competitive environment and to draw the match-ups for the first round of play. Obviously, partying is great, but everyone really wanted to know who was gonna be playing who.

The bracket of 64 players is divided into four quadrants, each named for a suit in a deck of cards. Some of the most interesting heads-up matches that will be taking place later today areTom "durrrr" Dwan vs. Phil Hellmuth (the young online poker phenom vs. the veteran 11-time WSOP bracelet winner), Don Cheadle vs.Gus Hansen, David Williams vs. Johnny Chan,Clonie Gowen vs. Jennifer Tilly(a little girl on girl action) and Chris Fergusonvs. John Juanda (two very cerebral players).

The Hearts bracket is already underway at Caesar's Palace in Vegas, they started at 10:15am local time, and the others will follow later today, Diamonds at 1:15 pm, Clubs at 4:15 pm and Spades 6:45 pm.

Check out the full first round matches after the jump and a video of Williams on the red carpet at PURE last night.

Clubs
Jonathan Little vs. Erik SeidelPatrik Antonius vs. Gabe KaplanGreg Raymer vs. Hooman NikzadKenny Tran vs. Scott ClementsMike Matusow vs. Joseph HachemTom Dwan vs. Phil HellmuthTom Schneider vs. Gavin SmithChris Ferguson vs. John Juanda

Hearts
Vanessa Rousso vs. Antonio EsfandiariShannon Elizabeth vs. Andy BlochTodd Brunson vs. Scott FischmanJamie Gold vs. Tom KellyTed Forrest vs. Orel HershiserAllen Cunningham vs. Chad BrownJean-Robert Bellande vs. Sam GrizzleFreddy Deeb vs. Paul Wasicka

Spades
Don Cheadle vs. Gus HansenScotty Nguyen vs. Bill EdlerJerry Yang vs. Chris MoneymakerDavid Singer vs. Phil LaakPhil Ivey vs. Alisha KunzeDavid Williams vs. Johnny ChanDaniel Schreiber vs. T.J. CloutierAnnie Duke vs. J.C. Tran

Diamonds
Jason Alexander vs. Huck SeedDavid Pham vs. Brian TownsendClonie Gowen vs. Jennifer TillyDaniel Negreanu vs. Michael MizrachiBarry Greenstein vs. Howard LedererDavid Benyamine vs. Jennifer HarmanSam Farha vs. Doyle BrunsonErick Lindgren vs. Eli Elezra

The 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Tournament kicks off tomorrow and Bodog poker pro David Williams will be in the field. (Bodog Beat Image)

You have until 9 p.m. EST tonight to place your bets on the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in the Bodog Sportsbook, so get in on the action now, while you still can.

As you know, we are out in Los Angeles covering the WPT LA Poker Classic and the favorite to win the final table out here today is also one of the favorites to win the Heads-Up event that starts tomorrow, Phil Ivey. Needless to say, he won't be at the draw party at PURE Nightclub tonight.

Obviously, Ivey is on fire right now with a ridiculous chip lead at this tournament, but will he carry that over to the Heads-Up event or be too tired to play well tomorrow? Is it worth the 25 to 1 odds being laid in the Bodog Sportsbook?

Other poker players at those odds will be much more rested, but also not as on fire, like Daniel Negreanu and Patrik Antonius. Winner of the 2007 NBC Heads-Up event, Paul Wasicka, trails those favorites just a bit at 35 to 1 with David Benyamine at 38 to 1.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are the three poker-playing celebrities in the field, Shannon Elizabeth, Don Cheadle and baseball great Orel Hershiser , all laying 100 to 1.

Two Team Bodog players are in the lineup, David Williams and Jean-Robert Bellande, and they are currently sitting at 45 to 1 and 60 to 1, respectively.

For all of the available lines, check at the 2008 NBC Heads-Up Poker odds in the Bodog Sportsbook and then come back here for all of your results.