2005 National Heads Up Championship - Chris Ferguson vs. TJ. Cloutier

  Even if you are a seasoned professional, there have to be certain tactics that can rattle your cage from time to time, especially if played on you by a consummate gentleman of the game. In the first ever National Heads Up Championship, the field of competitors had been weeded out to four, with two tables of two players each competing in a single elimination round to determine who would face off heads up at the final table.   At this particular table two veterans of the game played a polite game of No Limit Texas Holdem. T.J. Cloutier and Chris Jesus Ferguson had played a number of hands leading up to this final showdown.  Two hands in a row Fergeson had used the power of being chip leader by a wide margin to bully Cloutier into folding rather than going all in on marginal hands. Each time Fergeson had prepared a special stack of chips that contained the exact amount to push his opponent all in. On the third hand, Ferguson was dealt:...and again pushed forward his specially prepared stack, this time containing $171,500 in chips. Cloutier, with his pocket cards Ac 10c, pushed his chips forward, going all in and calling his opponent, and was almost three to one to win. The Flop brought:...and with Fergusons pair of Deuces he now had 71% chance to win.   The Turn was 6d, the River 8s, and T.J. Cloutier was knocked out of the running, letting Chris Fergeson through to the final table to face the Poker Brat, Phil Hellmuth.