This past weekend indicated the end to one of the year’s largest poker championships, the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championships, held in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace. The winner was not an altogether unfamiliar name: Chris “Jesus” Ferguson walked away with both the title and the $500,000 in grand prize money.

The tournament originated with sixty four players competing for the title, both celebrities and professional players. They played through a bracket style competition, that allowed individual players to compete with one another. With every round, a the winner would move onto the next level, and the loser was eliminated.

The final round altered slightly, requiring a best-out-three win. Ferguson got to said final round by winning against professional player Phil Ivey in the semi-finals. Phil Ivey, contrarily, won against Andy Bloch, who had beaten Huck Seed to make it to the semi-finals.

These kinds of tournaments seem to be a great winning point for Ferguson, who made it to the finals in 2005, only to be beaten by Phil Hellmuth. In 2006, he also made it to the final round, only to lose to Ted Forrest. Orel Hershiser finished seventh this year and walked away with the prize money of $75,000.