The return of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship represents the resumption of one of the most recognizable events in the history of the game. The 64-player heads-up championship debuted in 2005, pitting the best players against celebrities, athletes and wealthy enthusiasts.
Phil Hellmuth won the inaugural edition of the tournament, which aired on NBC. The NHUPC ran every year through 2011, and again in 2013. After a 12-year hiatus, the event returned in 2025, filmed inside the PokerGO Studio. When the dust settled, Sam Soverel won this revived edition of the prestigious event, earning $500,000 along with the championship trophy. He joins Hellmuth, Erik Seidel, Mike Matusow, Ted Forrest, Paul Wasicka, Chris Ferguson, Huck Seed, and Annie Duke as part of the event’s list of esteemed champions.
“It was a great tournament,” Soverel said, shortly after securing his victory. “When you’re playing a big one, you fold, and you watch everybody play, and it’s easy to lose focus. But heads up, you’re just in there the whole time. It was nice to be in the moment the whole time.”
Soverel’s enjoyed tremendous success among poker’s most successful high rollers. He’s accumulated over $32 million in lifetime results, with four career World Series of Poker bracelet wins. Two of those bracelet wins book-ended his NHUPC victory, with a June win in Las Vegas for just shy of $1 million, and a career-best $2,594,000 in the $100,000 buy-in Triton pot-limit Omaha main event in December.
But this NHUPC win may well be the brightest spotlight Soverel’s been in to date. All 10 episodes, which first debuted on Peacock, are now available in their entirety on PokerGO.
Sam Soverel’s Path To Victory
| Round | Opponent |
| Round of 64 | Jonathan Jaffe |
| Round of 32 | Ryan Feldman |
| Round of 16 | Nick Wright |
| Quarterfinals | Luiz ‘Brazil God’ Rizental |
| Semifinals | Phil Galfond |
| Finals | Keith Lehr (2-1) |
Celebrities Fare Well
One of the key elements of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship since its very first year is the exciting mix of player types. Alongside the high rollers and the heads-up specialists, celebrities and athletes give casual fans a recognizable underdog.
In this edition, several of them fared remarkably well. Actor and comedian Kevin Pollak defeated two tournament heavy hitters, Liv Boeree and Shaun Deeb, on his way to the round of 16. Sports broadcaster Nick Wright beat Chino Rheem and Jason Koon before running into the eventual champion. Both Pollak and Wright won back their $25,000 buy-ins for winning two matches.
National Football League Hall of Fame member Richard Seymour went even deeper into the tournament, reaching the quarterfinals. The former defensive end’s path to the final eight saw Seymour defeat Matt Berkey, Marius Gierse, and Andrew Robl, with the match against Robl lasting exactly one hand. Seymour’s poker accomplishments include a deep run in a $25,000 high roller at the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, worth $376,360, and a pair of strong showings in the WSOP main event.
The Start Of A Championship Run
Soverel’s enjoyed success across most MTT formats in recent years, but this tournament appearance hearkened back to his roots in his earliest days in poker.
“It was my main game in like 2009 and 2010,” Soverel said of heads-up poker. “It’s my favorite format, but I haven’t really played it in 15 years.”
Soverel didn’t show any sign of rust. He was one of the first players in his bracket to advance from the round of 64. On the river of a J♠J♥8♦9♠4♥, Soverel put World Poker Tour champion Jonathan Jaffe all in. Jaffe eventually called with A♠8♥, and Soverel’s pocket tens were best.
In the round of 32, Soverel drew Hustler Casino Live mastermind Ryan Feldman. After getting Feldman short-stacked, Soverel was well behind when Feldman got his last few chips in with A♠K♣. Soverel jokingly slid the three from his A♥3♦ next to the board before the river hit, and then the 3♥ arrived to deliver the knockout.
Nick Wright
Soverel got up early on Wright in the round of 16, and then found himself on the preferable side of a mega-cooler. Soverel’s 9♥8♥ flopped a straight and a straight flush redraw on a J♥10♥7♣ board against Wright’s flopped top set of jacks. The chips got in on the A♦ turn, and he rivered the flush with the 4♥ to close it out.
Luis Phillipe ‘Brazil God’ Rizental’s final hand saw him shove with 10♣7♦ on a 7♠6♣2♦4♦. Soverel called with A♥7♣. “I don’t have a lot of outs,” noted ‘Brazil God,’ and Soverel nodded in confirmation. The K♦ river sealed Soverel’s advance into the semifinals.
Closing in
In the semifinals, Soverel faced the toughest challenge of his run to that point, taking on heads-up legend Phil Galfond. Soverel fell behind almost 4:1 against Galfond in early action, and had to fight all the way back. He found a crucial double with pocket aces against Galfond’s A♦Q♥, all in on a J♦6♦2♣3♦ board to take a 2:1 lead of his own. Soverel doubled that lead, to 4:1, and then took the last of Galfond’s chips as his K♣Q♦ bested Galfond’s A♠10♦ on a K♥5♦2♥8♣5♠ runout.
In the finals, Soverel faced off with Keith Lehr. The two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner had run an interesting gauntlet of his own, defeating influencer Bryce Hall, BMX legend and MTV ‘The Challenge’ host TJ Lavin, Jesse Lonis, Scott Seiver, and Chalie Hook on his way to the finale.
“I didn’t really know to expect of him,” said Soverel. “He’s a great player. He plays mixed, and PLO, and all these different games. I don’t really know much about his heads-up game, but things went kind of how I expected. Pretty solid, and just seemed like he didn’t want to make any mistakes. So I think he let me win too many small pots.”
Soverel jumped out to an early lead in the first match of the best-of-three championship round. But a two-pair over two-pair cooler for Lehr flipped the script. Soverel called the last of his chips off with Q♥9♠ and failed to catch up to Lehr’s K♣Q♣.
The Comeback For The Win
Soverel had his back against the wall, needing to win two matches in a row to come from behind. He picked off a quick win in the second round, when Lehr shoved a J♠5♠2♥5♣ board with A♠Q♠. Soverel was all too happy to call with 7♦5♦, and his trip fives held, to send the finals to a decisive third match.
In the end, it came down to a coinflip. Soverel’s pocket sevens battled Lehr’s A♥J♦ with the last of Lehr’s chips in the middle. The pair of sevens stayed ahead through a 8♦5♣2♣ flop, 9♣ turn, and 3♣ river to make Soverel the champion.
“Overall, I played well,” said Soverel. “And yeah, I mean, I drilled the five for trips in the second match, and the first match, just [two-pair vs. two-pair], I mean, those two hands would kind of play themselves. In the third match, there were a lot of small pots. Ultimately, I think I won a little bit more of the [small pots] than I should have, and I got lucky in all the big flips.”
2025 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Payouts
| Place | Player | Payout |
| Champion | Sam Soverel | $500,000* |
| Finalist | Keith Lehr | $275,000 |
| Semifinalist | Phil Galfond | $150,000 |
| Semifinalist | Chalie Hook | $150,000 |
| Quarterfinalist | Richard Seymour | $75,000 |
| Quarterfinalist | Luiz Rizental | $75,000 |
| Quarterfinalist | Scott Seiver | $75,000 |
| Quarterfinalist | Igor Kurganov | $75,000 |
*Plus a seat into the 2026 NHUPC
Photo credits: PokerGO / Miguel Cortes.