Fans of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship can rejoice: the best made-for-TV poker tournament in the world returns to the airwaves Sunday.

The first two-hour episode of the 2009 NHUPC premieres at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 12. The tournament, which was filmed March 6-8 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, features 64 players going head-to-head in a single-elimination bracket similar to that used in the NCAA basketball tournament, with the exception of a best-of-three final worth $500,000 to the winner.

As usual the field is packed with some of the best known names in poker. Among those in the starting field are defending NHUPC champion Chris Ferguson, former NHUPC winners Phil Hellmuth and Paul Wasicka, former WSOP Main Event champions Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan, and world-class pros Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey.

A number of other players received automatic bids based on winning major events, including 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event champ John Juanda, 2008 WSOP Player of the Year Erick Lindgren, WSOP Main Event winners Jamie Gold, Jerry Yang, and Peter Eastgate. Also in the running are online poker stars Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan and Ilari ‘Ziigmund’ Sahamies, former Cy Young award winning pitcher and 2008 NHUPC quarterfinalist Orel Hershiser, and a small handful of qualifiers who won seats online or through the host venue.

Schedule for all six weeks of coverage:

Week 1 – April 12, 2009 – Two Hour Show – Round Of 64

Featured Matches: Daniel Negreanu vs. Chris Moneymaker, Mike Matusow vs. Dario Minieri, Mike Sexton vs. Phil Hellmuth, Gabe Kaplan vs. Chris Ferguson

Week 2 – April 19, 2009 – One Hour Show – Round Of 64
 
 Featured Matches: Johnny Chan vs. Eli Elezra, Annie Duke vs. Brad Garrett

Week 3 – April 26, 2009 – Two Hour Show – Round of 32

Week 4 – May 3, 2009 – Two Hour Show – Round of 16

Week 5 – May 10, 2009 – Two Hour Show – Quarterfinals

Week 6 – May 17, 2009 – Three Hour Show – Semi-Finals and Finals

Each episode of the 2009 NHUPC will air in the same Noon ET time slot for the next five weeks.

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