By Joe Zusman | March 22, 2007

Nothing has been posted yet on the UltimateBet.com website, but online poker room UltimateBet did announce today that it has created an internet version of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHUPC). The NHUPC, which matched 64 poker pros and celebrities (63, actually, plus one internet qualifier) in a “March Madness” style tournament bracket of heads-up poker bouts, wrapped up this month and will air on NBC in April. The new Ultimate Heads Up Challenge (UHUC) will essentially mimic the NHUPC, but will be geared towards online players.

The UHUC will also feature 64 players playing through six rounds until one player is left standing. Unlike the NHUPC, however, the field will be composed primarily of players who qualify at UltimateBet.com. UltimateBet will have four of its pros playing, including Annie Duke and the first NHUPC winner, Phil Hellmuth, but the remainder of the seats will go to internet qualifiers (although nobody says that a pro can’t win a seat themselves).

Each seat will be worth $2,000, making for a total prize pool of $128,000. Further details, including dates and prizes, will be forthcoming at http://www.ultimatebet.com.

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