Paul Darden

The National Heads-Up Poker Championship is an annual poker tournament held in the United States and produced by the NBC television network. It is a $25,000 "buy-in" invitation-only tournament organized as a series of one-on-one games of no limit Texas hold 'em matches. The participants include many of the world's most successful poker players, as well as celebrities. The championship was the first poker event to be televised on and produced by a major U.S. television network. In October 2011, NBC announced that the National Heads-Up Poker Championship would not return in 2012, ending the championship's seven-year run. After a one-year hiatus, the tournament returned in 2013. The $25,000 buy-in event ran from Jan. 24 through 26 at Caesars Palace, the same venue where the event was held from 2006 through 2011. The Heads-Up Championship had been sponsored by online poker companies before Black Friday. The World Series of Poker is the new presenting sponsor.

As the name suggests, the World Poker Tour features not just a single event, but a collection of prestigious tournaments played in top casinos and card rooms across the globe, including the glamorous Bellagio in Las Vegas and the Aviation Club de France in Paris. It all leads up to the WPT Championship finale where the “survivor” walks away with more than $1 million. But that’s just a fraction of the money up for grabs over the course of the series. With its innovative WPT cams revealing the player’s hole cards and take no-prisoners brand of poker action, the WPT ignited the world’s poker phenomenon. Making viewers feel as if they were sitting in the seat making the million-dollar decision By projecting poker's true image--a stylish and exhilarating sport combining cunning, skill, and nerve-the WPT has revolutionized televised poker and created a mainstream sports sensation.

World Series of Poker 2003