On Friday, two more rounds entered the books for the PokerGO Tour’s first Heads-Up Showdown. From the Sweet Sixteen to the Final Four, there have been a few surprises along the way. A trio of players are familiar to the poker community, but the fourth is a newcomer to the world of “High Rollers” who is quickly proving himself.

Sweet Sixteen to Elite Eight

Friday’s first four games saw the ‘chalk’ – the expected winners – come to the fore at the PokerGO studios in Las Vegas. In one match, perennial fan favorite Daniel Negreanu was able to defeat Tamon Nakamura. As that fight continued, Darrem Elias ended the shot of Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel during that one-on-one crown. Elsewhere, Eric Persson handled Dan Shak with far less drama than his first-round fight with Phil Hellmuth. Finally, as Isaac Kempton knocked out Scott Ball to define half of the Elite Eight.

Top of the table featured a top-notch clash between Sean Winter and Alex Foxen, with Foxen emerging victorious in the quarter-finals. Justin Young seemed to have regained his one-on-one skills from last year, knocking out Shannon Shorr. Bill Klein (on Jake Daniels) and ‘Chino’ Rheem (on Jeremy Ausmus) set the stage for the second half of the tournament bracket format.

Final Four a great mix

The matchups in the Elite Eight went like this for the Friday night fight:

Alex Foxen vs. Justin Young
Daniel Negreanu vs. Darren Elias
‘Chino’ Rheem vs. Bill Klein
Eric Persson vs. Isaac Kempton

Two of the games went without incident. In both of their fights, Kempton and Elias were able to get ahead of their opponent and didn’t have much trouble making it to the Final Four. In fact, it was an untimely bluff for one of those matches that would end the competition.

Elias limped on his button and Negreanu pushed to 14K in the 2K/4K blinds, which Elias called. A K-4-2 flop hosted the duo and Negreanu checked his option. Elias agreed with the check and did it himself, leaving a nine on the turn. Now Negreanu has opted to shoot and Elias has decided to just call his bet. A back nine on the river was the one that ignited the fireworks.

Negreanu checked the river nine and, after Elias put in 35K, Negreanu went for his throat with an all-in. Elias nearly beat Negreanu in the pot with the call, showing his 9-8 for turned and river trips; Negreanu could only obediently show a 6-5 for a complete bluff as he went to the sideline ahead of the Final Four.

There were two spots left in the Final Four and, after Young and Rheem took care of their opponents, Saturday’s roster for the PokerGO Heads-Up Showdown was set:

Darren Elias vs. Justin Young
‘Chino’ Rheem vs. Isaac Kempton

The action is scheduled to begin at noon (Pacific Daylight Time) Saturday. It’s going to be a long day as play continues until the PokerGO Heads-Up Showdown champion is crowned – literally. A gold crown is the trophy of the tournament and one of the rewards awaiting the winner. The four men are guaranteed at least $100,000, but the top two places will split $600,000. The champion will take home $400,000 for their efforts, while the runner-up will receive $200,000. If you’re looking to watch the finish live, the action can be found on the PokerGO streaming outlet starting at 1pm (PDT) on Saturday.

(Photo courtesy of PokerGO.com)