Hellmuth, Matusow, Cates in NBC Heads-Up Final 8

Two of the game's original and most recognizable stars, both had to make it through tough opponents in the Rounds of 32 and 16 to advance.

Hellmuth, who won the inaugural NBC Heads-Up event in 2005, continued his string of strong results in the past year by defeating Justin Smith and David "Doc" Sands to make the quarter-finals.

Matusow, who hasn't seen the same level of success or exposure since Black Friday, surprised at least a few observers by knocking off Viktor "Isildur1" Blom and Barry Greenstein for his spot in the quarter-finals.

Hellmuth will face Eugene Katchalov in the quarters while Matusow will face John Hennigan.

Cates, Seiver Clash in Clubs Bracket

While the poker vets controlled the Hearts and Spades brackets the young guns ruled the day in the Clubs and Diamonds.

Heads-up killers Dan "Jungleman12" Cates and Scott Seiver will match up in the quarters of the Clubs bracket while Joe Serock and Brian Hastings meet in the Diamonds bracket.

Hastings knocked off fellow online icon Tom "durrrr" Dwan in the Round of 16 and Serock topped GPI Player of the Year Dan Smith.

Action picks up again at 2 pm from Vegas and won't stop until a winner is crowned.

Tomorrow's Match-Ups:

Eugene Katchalov vs. Phil Hellmuth Brian Hastings vs. Joe Serock Dan Cates vs. Scott Seiver Mike Matusow vs. John Hennigan

Yesterday's results:

SPADES

Round of 32

Barry Greenstein def. John Monnette Mike "The Mouth" Matusow def. Viktor Blom John Hennigan def. Sam Simon Phil Ivey def. Justin Bonomo

Round of 16

Mike ‘The Mouth” Matusow def. Barry Greenstein John Hennigan def. Phil Ivey

HEARTS  

Round of 32

Joe Cheong def. Bruce Miller Eugene Katchalov def. Phil Galfond Phil Hellmuth def. Justin Smith David “Doc” Sands def. Chris Moneymaker

Round of 16

Eugene Katchalov Def. Joe Cheong Phil Hellmuth def. David "Doc" Sands

CLUBS

Round of 32

Antonio Esfandiari def. Jonathan Duhamel Dan Cates def Chris Moorman Vanessa Rousso def. Shaun Deeb Scott Seiver def. Kyle Julius

Round of 16

Dan Cates def. Antonio Esfandiari Scott Seiver def. Vanessa Rousso

DIAMONDS  

Round of 32 

Tom Dwan def. Doyle Brunson Brian Hastings def. Eli Elezra Joe Serock def Huck Seed Dan Smith def. Gaelle Baumann

Round of 16

Brian Hastings def. Tom Dwan Joe Serock def. Dan Smith

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