Emmitt Smith Bests Pro David Williams at Poker Championship

Mar 5, 2011
David Tubbs

Emmitt Smith Upsets Poker Pro David Williams - Photo Courtesy of John Trainor

NFL Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith upset David Williams in the first round of the NBC 2001 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

In one of the biggest upsets to be remembered in recent poker memory took place March 4 as NFL Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith defeated PokerStars pro and World Stars Of Poker Main Event runner-up David Williams at the NBC 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship. For several years celebrities and sports athletes have been invited to the championship, but there hasn't been this big an upset from a poker newcomer.

Out of 64 Starters Only 32 Remain

Smith beating one of the most respected young poker players is a very interesting story, especially as Smith hasn't exactly proven to be a very refined poker player. He busted from the World Series of Poker 2010 Main Event after just a few hours. Smith will have a tall order in the round of 32 as he is set to go up against online poker professional Andrew Robl who has been building a respectable reputation.

Other major stories include the professional return of the once retired Peter Eastgate who defeated his first heads-up opponent Chris Ferguson. Eastgate made headlines over much of 2010 between announcing his early retirement and also selling off his 2008 WSOP Main Event Championship bracelet for $150,000 on eBay. There were also a number of other upsets on Friday.

The highest online cash game winner for 2010, Daniel "jungleman12" Cates ended the intimidating Phil Ivey's day, moving on after a very solid outing showing that he can take on the likes of poker's best in live play, not just online. Meanwhile, another fear-inducing online pro, Tom "durrrr" Dwan beat actor Don Cheadle in the first round. It wasn't an upset in any way, but Cheadle playing will always make headlines in the poker industry as he is one of the co-founders of the poker charity group Ante Up for Africa.

Round of 32 Matches

Being a heads-up based competition the next round of 32 will begin on Saturday. With upsets and huge poker names still in the mix it will be interesting who will follow Annie Duke's 2010 win. Sadly Annie Duke was not able to attend the event to defend her title as a family emergency pulled her away at the last minute. No matter what, there are several poker Hall of Famers and powerful online pros to go along with a lonely NFL Hall of Fame running back left in the mix. It should be an interesting day of poker.

Here are the 16 match-ups for Round 2:

Spades Bracket:

Doyle Brunson vs Dennis Phillips

Daniel Cates vs Chris Moneymaker

Carlos Mortensen vs David Oppenheim

Patrik Antonius vs Eugene Katchalov

Clubs Bracket:

Jonathan Duhamel vs Antonio Esfandiari

Olivier Busquet vs Liv Boeree

Jason Mercier vs Andy Bloch

Barry Greenstein vs Ayaz Mahmood

Hearts Bracket: