My NBC Bracket Picks with reasoning
ROUND of 32:
Jeff Madsen over Shannon Elizabeth
Jeff and Shannon know each other well, but I think that probably gives Jeff the edge.
Erick Lindgren over Carlos Mortensen
These guys know each other very, very, well, but I think Erick is more focused on poker right now and is playing great.
Marco Traniello over Erik Seidel
Another upset pick here. I just think that Marco has a very difficult style to play against and will cause lots of top players problems. He’s just a tough guy to read because he makes plays that often don’t make much sense!
Huck Seed over Chip Reese
Chip is an awesome player obviously, but I actually think Huck is a more experienced heads up player. Plus, I think Huck has something to prove in this tournament.
Tuan Le over Cyndy Violette
Tuan is another guy with something to prove and his aggressive style might be a little too much for Cyndy to handle.
Eli Elezra over Joe Hachem
I think Eli’s style is the one style that might work well against a player like Joe.
Ted Forrest over Gus Hansen
I see a trap coming here. I think Ted will play pretty straight forward here and hope that Gus makes a mistake.
Nam Le over Jeff Shulman
Like I said before, I think Nam is a wonderful player. I think he may be able to trap Jeff early in this match.
Jennifer Harman over Allen Cunningham
I just have a feeling here and am going with what has to be considered an upset in this format. Allen has a lot more experience playing no limit hold’em.
John Juanda over Daniel Negreanu
I rarely ever beat that guy a pot so why would I start now? LOL, actually I figure that I might as well pick someone other than myself to win, becuase if I win the whole thing I’ll be happy anyway. Also, I don’t match up very well against John Juanda at all. He is a much better player than me in the late stages of these matches.
Johnny Chan over Gavin Smith
I think Chan will look to trap Gavin, and that’s what Gavin will want to do to Johnny. Johnny is a tough guy to trap, though, so I’m betting on Chan.
Jamie Gold over Scotty Nguyen
I just think that Gold’s aggressive approach will give him a chance in every match he plays. Scotty will try to get his money in good, obviously, but he’ll have to make sure he doesn’t wait too long to do that.
Kristi Gazes over Isabelle Mercier
I have a good feeling about Kristi here. She is playing with loads of confidence right now and it’s always tough to beat someone that feels like they are playing great.
Phil Ivey over Scott Fischman
If Phil is able to get by Don Cheadle, he could go a long way.
David Williams over Brad Booth
I have another “feeling” here and I think David is bound to get some luck going his way.
Todd Brunson over Yosh Nakano
Todd is a very good heads up player and I think he should be favored over Yosh.
ROUND OF 16:
Erik Lindgren over Jeff Madsen
Revenge will be on the mind in this match, as the last time these two faced off Jeff won a WSOP bracelet and kept Erick from getting his first.
Huck Seed over Marco Traniello
The fairy tale ends here for Marco. Huck has the perfect style to hamper Marco’s unorthodox approach. Huck will keep the pots small and allow Marco to lead the betting. Playing possum all the way, waiting for Marco to bluff at the wrong pot.
Tuan Le over Eli Elezra
This could be a wild one! Both aggressive player, but I’m giving the nod to Tuan.
Ted Forrest over Nam Le
Nam is a great player, but Ted is better heads up in my opinion. More experience, he’s been there before, and I think he’ll come out on top.
John Juanda over Jennifer Harman
I think John has an edge in no limit hold’em and he may end up having a good read on Jennifer.
Johnny Chan over Jamie Gold
Student doesn’t beat teacher on the big stage. Johnny might use the following line, “Kid, I taught you everything that YOU know, but I didn’t teach you everything that I know!”
Phil Ivey over Kristi Gazes
Kristi can be extremely confident right now, but that’s not going to scare Ivey.
David Williams over Todd Brunson
Todd is a better player in my opinion, but his game doesn’t match up well with a player like David I don’t think. I could see David busting Todd here, where Todd takes some kind of sick beat, lol.
QUARTER FINALS:
Erick Lindgren over Huck Seed
Revenge from last year when Huck beat Erick
Ted Forrest over Tuan Le
First he takes out Nam, then he deals with Tuan.
John Juanda over Johnny Chan
Juanda has the perfect game to give Chan fits. He won’t allow Chan to control the pace of the game.
David Williams over Phil Ivey
Like I said, I have a feeling about David. I think he will go into the match knowing that he’ll need to press the action to beat Phil. That’s going to force Phil to pick up a hand, and then have it hold up.
SEMI FINALS:
Erick Lindgren over Ted Forrest
How many matches in a row can you win? Ted has to lose eventually, I’m picking the semi finals for him to exit.
John Juanda over David Williams
This is a tough match for David to win. John’s approach works well against David and I think John will win.
FINALS:
Erick Lindgren over John Juanda
Expect it to go down to the wire with lots of bad beats in both directions. In the end, E-DOG wins….
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Ok, so things didn’t exactly go as planned, LOL. Here is how I see things going after two complete rounds:
Barry Greenstein over Shannon Elizabeth
Huck Seed over Humberto Brenes
Paul Wasicka over TJ Cloutier
Ted Forrest over Nam Le
Mike Matusow over Andy Bloch
Gavin Smith over Phil Gordon
Scott Fischman over Kristi Gazes
Brad Booth over Chad Brown
QUARTER FINAL
Huck Seed over Barry Greenstein
Ted Forrest over Paul Wasicka
Gavin Smith over Mike Matusow
Brad Booth over Scott Fischman
SEMI FINAL
Huck Seed over Ted Forrest
Brad Booth over Gavin Smith
FINAL
Huck Seed over Brad Booth]]>