Field Named for Heads-Up Championship

The field for this year's NBC National Heads-Up Championship has been released, with several surprises among the invitees.

As is tradition, 64 players will descend on Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV on March 4th to take their shot at the most coveted heads-up title in poker.

Hall of Fame NFL running back Emmitt Smith will play in this year's event as a celebrity guest. Other celebrity poker players in the field include Jason Alexander, Don Cheadle, Gabe Kaplan and Jennifer Tilly.

This year's event will be sponsored by online web hosting provider GoDaddy.com. According to Bob Parsons, Go Daddy Founder and CEO, "The National Heads-Up Championship in Vegas is a premiere that draws some of the greatest players in the world.

"Poker is a male-dominated sport. That makes it all the more interesting to watch our Go Daddy Girl Vanessa Rousso going head-to-head in this competition. We are bound to see an exciting series of match-ups again this year. I can't wait to see how it all plays out!"

This buy-in for this year's event has increased from $20,000 to $25,000, making first place now worth $750,000. First place in prior events was $500,000. Second will now receive $300,000 as opposed to $250,000 in past events.

The GoDaddy.com Draw Party will be held at PURE Nightclub at Caesars Palace on March 3rd to determine the bracket draw and players will return on March 4th to begin play.

The field of 64 is below: