“Matusow vs. Hellmuth! The Mouth vs. the Brat! Playing for the NBC Heads-Up Championship and $750,000 in cash in 15 minutes!” Those were the words of 13-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth on Saturday night as “The Poker Brat” prepared for a best-of-three showdown with Mike Matusow (pictured) in the finals of the made-for-TV, bracket-style tournament.

The poker world was quite excited about the showdown between Hellmuth and Matusow, and we’re sure NBC was too. After all, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship did not run in 2012 in the wake of Black Friday, so landing two blockbuster players at the final table in 2013 was quite fortunate.

Jonathan Duhamel, who won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2010, was among those impressed with the final Heads-Up pairing, Tweeting, “Wow, sick final match @phil_hellmuth vs. @themouthmatusow in #NBCHU, good for tv!!! Good luck both of you guys!! #livepros.”

Mike Sexton, whom Hellmuth defeated in the opening round, was keenly keeping tabs on the match in Las Vegas. Sexton, the face of the World Poker Tour, Tweeted, “‘You have to believe in yourself.’ – Sun Tzu” #quote. Congrats to @themouthmatusow for a great win in NBC HU. Said it was his time, & it was.”

Indeed it was Matusow’s time. Hellmuth won the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2005, the first year it ran, after defeating Chris Ferguson in the finals. He quickly fell behind 1-0 in the best-of-three match this time around. Hellmuth doubled up with A-3 against A-J in the first match after catching trip threes on the flop, but could not outrace Matusow with pocket fives against A-Q when his stack was on the line. Matusow hit an ace on the flop and led one match to none.

Heading into the second match, William Reynolds XO Reynolds Tweeted, “If @phil_hellmuth beats @themouthmatusow 2 heads up matches in a row for the title, it might just be greatest No Limit upset of my generation.” Hellmuth doubled up with A-K against K-K after catching an ace on the turn and put Matusow away after the latter ran deuces into tens a few minutes later.

Hellmuth painted a picture of the scene on Twitter: “OK, here we go… 1 for me, 1 for @TheMouthMatusow in best 2 out of 3 format in NBC Heads-Up! Next one wins!” The rubber match saw Matusow jump out in front early after he showed top pair on a board of A-Q-4-6-X. Then, on a board of K-J-2-6 with two spades and two diamonds, Hellmuth raised all-in and Matusow called, showing 8-4 of diamonds for no pair and a flush draw. Hellmuth rolled over K-10 for top pair, but a diamond on the river gave the 2013 National Heads-Up Poker Championship title and $750,000 to Matusow.

Matusow had reached the Sweet Sixteen of the tournament twice in the past (2007 and 2008). His competition this time around included Michael Mizrachi, Viktor Blom, Barry barryg1Greenstein, John Hennigan, and Scott Seiver. Hellmuth’s track saw him defeat Sexton, Justin Boosted JSmith (pictured), David Doc SandsSands, Eugene Katchalov, and Joe leemur Serock.

Following the finals, Hellmuth graciously Tweeted, “Lost in 3rd match of best of 3 matches to @TheMouthMatusow in the finals of the NBC Heads-Up Championships. Congrats to Mikey on the Win.” Matusow’s biblical acceptance speech on Twitter was as follows: “And god said let the cards break even, and they did. Thanks to all my supporters and fans was such a great win #lovinglife.” He was still awake as of 9:30am PT on Sunday morning.

Sixteen players made the money in the NBC Heads-Up event, which had a $25,000 buy-in:

1. Mike Matusow – $750,000
2. Phil Hellmuth – $300,000
3. Scott Seiver – $100,000
4. Joe leemurSerock – $100,000
5. Eugene Katchalov – $50,000
6. Brian Stinger885 Hastings – $50,000
7. John Hennigan – $50,000
8. Daniel Cates – $50,000
9. David Doc Sands Sands – $25,000
10. Dan Smith – $25,000
11. Tom Dwan – $25,000
12. Joseph subiime Cheong – $25,000
13. Antonio Esfandiari – $25,000
14. Barry barryg1Greenstein – $25,000
15. Vanessa Rousso – $25,000
16. Phil Ivey – $25,000

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.