How would $5 million change your life? For Darvin Moon and his wife Wendy, it doesn’t appear to have changed it all that much. Both still work full-time at the …

Things have changed just a bit one year later for Cada.

Since becoming the 2009 Main Event champion, Joe Cada has been one of the most visible names and faces in poker, serving as an ambassador for the game and making numerous media outlets.

Now Cada is drawing attention wherever he goes at the WSOP 2010. We caught up with Cada just after he busted out of the $1.5k No-Limit event.

He was signing an autograph for a female fan at the time.

"It's been pretty welcoming," Cada said of the reception he's gotten at this year's WSOP. "I'm off to a rough start so far but there are plenty of tournaments."

The 22-year-old Michigan native was easy to spot in the Pavilion Room, despite a field of 2,563 entrants.

Hundreds of tournament tables go unnoticed when the field gets that large, but Cada's spot at Table #113 had plenty of observers on hand, as media and fans alike want to get a look at the champ.

Cada, who says he plans on playing 25 events at the WSOP this year, says he hasn't gotten anything too weird yet.

"People have been pretty normal for the most part," Cada said. "Just hellos and stuff like that."

Much like his predecessor, 2008 Main Event champ Peter Eastgate, Cada made the mainstream media rounds after his win, which made the then-21-year-old Cada the youngest WSOP Main Event champion ever.

His heads-up finale against runner-up Darvin Moon is already one of the most talked about finals in WSOP history.

The WSOP is paying homage to Cada's victory by placing his 2009 Champion banner right at the front of Convention Way, the centerpiece of a gallery of WSOP memorabilia that also includes a giant mural of Cada vs. Moon at the Main Event final table with the signature mountain of cash between them.

Although Cada was eliminated from Event 11 $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em today, he will have the rest of the summer to prove that he was no one-hit wonder.

The 2010 WSOP continues through July 17. For comprehensive coverage live from Las Vegas tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.

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PokerNews is the world's No. 1 poker information source, offering: global poker news coverage, online poker reviews, special poker bonuses and deals, exclusive video ...

2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon discusses how his life has changed after becoming one of the 2009 November Nine, lying about his hand at the final table and more on this episode of 'The Scoop' brought to you by Full Tilt Poker.

"I'm so excited to win such a prestigious event and join the likes of Huck Seed, Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth as Heads-Up Champion," said Duke, who became the first-ever woman to win the NBC Heads-Up title.

"I came into this tournament really focused and it feels great to finally break through in this event."

The road to victory at Caesars Palace was not an easy one for the UB sponsored pro. She beat 2008 runner-up Andy Bloch in the first round before getting past 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon in the round of 32.

Next up was 2007 champion Paul Wasicka who looked to have the best of Duke when she was all in with ace-ten against his pocket aces at one point. Miraculously, Duke went runner-runner to make a straight, take the lead and eventually move on.

"I would have loved all of my matches to be easy," said Duke. "I'm sure (Producer) Mori (Eskandani) is happy though, because it's going to give the show some serious drama.

"One thing's for sure, I can never complain about bad beats again after hitting that runner-runner king-queen against Paul Wasicka."

In the end, Duke beat eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel in the best-of-three final to bank the $500,000 first-place prize.

"Annie was my number one pick to win," said Seidel. "She played very tough. She had no fear. She really played the way you're supposed to play in this sort of structure."

A mother of four, Duke took some time off from her career as a professional poker player to film The Celebrity Apprentice last season.

Now she says a little time away from the game did her a world of good.

"I know what my main priority is and that's my family, so I'm never going to play as much poker as everyone else, but it's really nice to come back with a bang," she said. "I took the time off, I readjusted and now I've had some good results."

Vanessa Rousso made runner-up at the Heads-Up Championship in 2009, the deepest finish by a woman in the event before this year.

Duke said it's great to see so many female poker players rising to the top.

"I think it's great that a woman came in second last year and a woman finished first this year to really represent woman players," she said. "There are some great female poker players out there."

NBC's coverage of the 64-person event will air Sunday's at 12 p.m. ET beginning April 18 through May 23.

- With files from Matthew Showell

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The two PokerStars pros have both been hot over the last 12 months with millions of dollars in combined tournament earnings.

Some of the other marquee first round matches include Phil Hellmuth vs. Howard Lederer, Peter Eastgate vs. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Brock Parker vs. Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey vs. Gavin Smith.

In total there will be 32 heads-up matches played in the first round.

NBC once again separated the players into four brackets – Hearts, Clubs, Spades and Diamonds – with the winner of each bracket booking a seat in the semifinals.

The tournament begins today at 1 p.m. PT. Be sure to check out our live updates of the event.

Here is the complete line-up for the first round of the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Championship:

Clubs:

Patrik Antonius vs. Chris Moneymaker
Leo Wolpert vs. Eric Baldwin
David Williams vs. Joe Cada
Erik Seidel vs. Huck Seed
Dan Ramirez vs. Erick Lindgren
Peter Eastgate vs. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
Stephen Quinn vs. Ted Forrest
Dario Minieri vs. Jamie Gold

Spades:

Gavin Smith vs. Phil Ivey
Richard Edwards vs. Scotty Nguyen
Shawn Rice vs. Joe Hachem
Gabe Kaplan vs. Johnny Chan
Daniel Negreanu vs. Jason Mercier
Pieter de Korver vs. Mike Sexton
Phil Gordon vs. Tom Dwan
Phil Laak vs. John Juanda

Hearts:

Jesper Hougaard vs. Allen Cunningham
Eli Elezra vs. Greg Mueller
Annette Dworski vs. Craig Ferguson
Kara Scott vs. Dennis Phillips
Doyle Brunson vs. Brock Parker
JP Kelly vs. Don Cheadle
Howard Lederer vs. Phil Hellmuth
Annette Obrestad vs. Orel Hershiser

Diamonds:

Barry Greenstein vs. Vanessa Rousso
Sam Farha vs. Antonio Esfandiari
Jennifer Harman vs. Jennifer Tilly
Jerry Yang vs. Mike Matusow
Darvin Moon vs. Bill Huntress
Andy Bloch vs. Annie Duke
Andrew Wilson vs. Paul Wasicka
Gus Hansen vs. Greg Raymer

 

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Familiar faces like Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson will be back to compete in the bracket-style head-to-head format for $1.5 million in combined prize money Mar. 5-7.

Plus, several newcomers including PokerListings Blogger and Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, 2009 World Series of Poker champion Joe Cada, 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon, and High Stakes Poker host Kara Scott will be in the field of 64 trying to take down last year's champ Huck Seed.

"The lineup of competitors for this year's event is the best yet," said Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports.

"Continually bringing together the best of the best to compete in this unique format has made the National Heads-Up Poker Championship one of the most anticipated poker events of the year."

The event will be taped for broadcast on NBC over six consecutive Sundays in April and May.

The first round opponents for the brackets will be chosen at random during the GoDaddy.com Draw Party held at PURE Nightclub at Caesars Palace Mar. 4.

Below is a list of the entire 64-player field less seven spaces for online qualifiers.

Patrick Antonius               Eric Baldwin               Andy Bloch               Doyle Brunson
Joe Cada                         Johnny Chan              Don Cheadle            Allen Cunningham
Pieter De-Korver              Annie Duke                Tom Dwan               Peter Eastgate
Eli Elezra                         Antonio Esfandiari       Sam Farha               Chris Ferguson
Ted Forrest                      Jamie Gold                 Phil Gordon              Barry Greenstein
Bertrand Grospellier         Joe Hachem                Gus Hansen             Jennifer Harman
Phil Hellmuth                    Orel Hershiser            Jesper Hougaard       Phil Ivey
John Juanda                     Gabe Kaplan              J.P. Kelly                  Phil Laak
Howard Lederer                Erick Lindgren            Mike Matusow           Jason Mercier
Dario Minieri                     Chris Moneymaker     Darvin Moon             Greg Mueller
Daniel Negreanu               Scotty Nguyen           Annette Obrestad      Brock Parker
Dennis Phillips                  Greg Raymer             Vanessa Rousso        Kara Scott
Huck Seed                        Erik Seidel                 Mike Sexton             Gavin Smith
Jennifer Tilly                     Paul Wasicka             David Williams          Leo Wolpert
Jerry Yang

 

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... Joe Cada has just become the World Series of Poker's winner over Darvin Moon. ...

The Wheeling Island Hotel and Casino will be hosting The Darvin Moon Poker Challenge Jan. 14-18 featuring a series of four No-Limit Hold’em tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $125 to $550.

Points will be awarded to the top 20 finishers of each of the events and the leading point winner during the series will get the chance take on Moon heads-up with $2,000 in added-money on the line.

The poker room will also be hosting a number of satellites for the events and a $130 WSOP Super Satellite.

Moon himself turned a $130 Wheeling Island satellite into $5,182,601 when the 46-year-old Western Maryland logger shocked the poker world finishing second to 21-year-old champion Joe Cada.

The Wheeling Island Hotel and Casino is in West Virginia. It was Originally created as a site for thoroughbred and harness racing in 1866, but now includes a full-service hotel and banquet center, restaurants, video lottery terminals, table games, a poker room and more

For the full Darvin Moon Poker Challenge schedule, check out the Wheeling Island Hotel and Casino website.

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2009 WSOP Main Event Winner - Joe Cada / Joseph Cada has won the world series of poker 2009 beating Darvin Moon to won over $8 million for winning 1st place in the WSOP