Heads-Up Poker Championship crowns winner over weekend

Poker Hall of Fame member Erik Seidel defeated Chris Moneymaker to capture the National Heads-Up Poker Championship at Caesars Palace on Sunday.

Seidel, 51, the winner of eight World Series of Poker individual event champion bracelets, won $750,000. Last year, Seidel finished as runner-up to Annie Duke in the Heads-Up Poker Championship, which is a made-for-television poker event that was filmed over the weekend.

NBC will air episodes of the tournament over six consecutive Sundays beginning April 17. The Heads-Up Poker Championship featured 64 top poker professionals and celebrities in a series of one-on-one no-limit hold 'em matches that are set up in a bracket-style format. Competition was single-eliminaton with the championship determined by a best of three games.

Seidel, a 51-year-old Las Vegas resident, defeated several top poker players on the way to the final table, including five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Allen Cunningham and two-time bracelet winner Jennifer Harman. Seidel was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame last year.

Moneymaker, the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion, won $300,000 for finishing as runner-up.