The TPF Heads Up Championship 2...

[Talking Poker]

We did it and it was a big success, so it's time to do it again!

This is the official thread for the TalkingPoker.com Forum Heads Up Championship 2 (TPFHUC2).

Useful Links
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Please do not post in here to set up matches and that sort of thing. Use PMs for that as much as possible and post the agreed upon match times (and the eventual winners) in the correct thread, linked to above. I will update this thread with the results as the competition plays out.

THE RULES

General
The TPFHUC2 will feature 5 rounds of Heads Up matches. We're starting with 32 players and will play a mostly single elimination tournament (March Madness style) until we have a winner.

All matches will be played at . After you download their software and create an account, log on. Click on "FreePlay" and then select "Heads Up." This is where all matches will be played at the agreed upon time. Timing it so both players are seated in the same freeroll can be tricky, but by using PMs, AIM, etc, it's not that hard. It just might take you a couple of tries.

The tourney structure can be viewed at the site, but basically, you start with 10,000 chips and 25/50 blinds, and blinds increase every 10 minutes. I think this is a great structure for this tournament. I personally don't like their software very much (be warned: the action buttons are probably backwards from what you are used to), but it's free, and should suit us nicely.

Important Note: Rounds 1 and 2 will consist of single elimination matches with the winner advancing to the next round. Rounds 3 and 4 will be a best of 3 series (unless both players agree to only play once). The final match will be a best of 5 series (again, unless both players agree to play only 1 or 3 tourneys). For the rounds with multiple tournaments, you can play them back to back, or space them out - whatever works best for the two of you.

Round Time Frames
All matches for each round need to be played within the specified time frame. Each time frame is approximately one week (with the early rounds being longer). This should be plenty of time for each pair to coordinate schedules and play their match(es). The time frames (and the maximum number of matches to be played per round) are as follows:

Round 1: 10/14-10/23 (1)
Round 2: 10/24-10/31 (1)
Round 3: 11/1-11/7 (3)
Semi-Finals: 11/8-11/14 (3)
Final Match: 11/15-20 (5)

With the exception of Round 1, matches may be played ahead of time if both participants agree. In theory, this entire contest could be over by the end of the month, but I'm not holding my breath - Last time, most of the rounds went long. Hopefully that won't happen again this time around.

*** When you and your opponent agree on a time to play, please post it in . It is also the responsibility of the winner to make another post in that thread letting us know the results. ***

Disappearing Participants/Bad Behavior/etc.
Hopefully this won't be a problem, but in theory, someone could have signed up for this tournament and then dropped off the face of the earth. If this is the case, I will try to find an alternate to take over their spot, but they may have to forfeit. If someone is completely unavailable for the entire time frame in which they are expected to play a match and I can't find an available alternate, the MIA player will forfeit. If both players are unable to come up with a mutually agreed upon time to play, I'm honestly not sure what we'll do. We'll probably discuss it openly as decide as a group which player will advance. Hopefully this won't be an issue.

Also, this should go without saying, but I expect everyone to behave throughout the competition. If you wouldn't say or do it at a poker table with the tv cameras on you, don't say it here.

Regarding the above, hopefully it won't come to this, but if I have to, I'll make the judgement calls. Any and all decision I have to make will be final. Let's hope it won't come to that.

Prizes
Once again, contributed by yours truly, the prizes are:

1st place - $50 cash, an autographed Phil Hellmuth book, and a TP.com hat*
2nd place - $25 cash and a TP.com hat*
3rd place - $15 cash*
4th place - $10 cash*

*The Final 4 players will ALL receive TalkingPoker.com mousepads. First and second places will also receive personalized TalkingPoker.com hats if they don't already have one. And no, if you win one now, you don't get another one when you reach 1000 posts. This is just a way to get your hands on one ahead of schedule.

All cash payments will be made via .