National Heads-Up Poker Championship Video Game Ready to Launch

NBC Sports, which created the National Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHUPC), has partnered with Reno-based video game company 5000ft, Inc. to produce a video game version of its televised poker tournament. The game will launch April 7.

5000ft also created another poker game, “STACKED with Daniel Negreanu,” which was developed in conjunction with MTV. The company also created such games as “Daredevil,” “Disney Princess,” “Army Men World War: Team Assault,” “Army Men: Green Rogue,” and “Jeopardy!”

“We think the National Heads-Up Poker Championship is the most unique poker competition in the world, since it’s based on the single most difficult part of Texas Hold ‘Em, ” said Ian Grieve CEO of 5000ft, Inc. “Teaming up with NBC was a dream come true, and we feel the union has produced an interactive companion that captures all the action, excitement, and complexity of the championship itself.”

The NHUPC is a 64-player, bracket style, one-on-one poker tournament, poker’s answer to March Madness. This March, 2006 World Series of Poker runner-up, Paul Wasicka emerged as the champion, earning $500,000. The previous two winners were Phil Hellmuth and Ted Forrest.

The 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship will be broadcast on NBC every Sunday for seven weeks at noon EST starting April 8. The first three episodes will run one hour, the next three will run two hours, and the finale will be a three hour show.

The game will be available for download at http://www.nbcheadsup.com.  Poker fans can try a demo of the game prior to buying.

Originally published 12:10 AM Wednesday, April 04, 2007