Jeff Haney on Ted Forrest, whose Heads-Up play trees Chris Ferguson in the final round of the second annual tournament at Caesars Palace

Wednesday, March 8, 2006 | 9:42 a.m.

It's not about the money, Ted Forrest said after winning the second annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship at Caesars Palace.

And for once, that timeworn phrase was spoken with sincerity.

Forrest, a regular in the Strip's high-stakes cash games, had entered the heads-up tournament with his confidence broken, with questions swirling in his head about his competence as a top-level poker pro.

His dour mind-set was the result of a disastrous run in a big one-on-one poker game last month against Texas billionaire Andy Beal at Wynn Las Vegas, Forrest said. After beating Beal for $7 million early in the match, Forrest's fortunes turned. Beal rallied to erase the $7 million deficit, then won $3.8 million more from Forrest.

"Basically, he beat me for $10.8 million straight, so it was really important for me to get my confidence back," Forrest said, savoring his heads-up tournament title in Caesars' poker room early Tuesday.

Forrest outdueled runner-up Chris Ferguson, two matches to one, in the best-of-three championship round after those two players emerged as finalists from the 64-person field that started the tournament Saturday.

Forrest, a 41-year-old native of Syracuse, N.Y., who has won five World Series of Poker bracelets, collected the top prize of $500,000 for his victory.

Ferguson, known as "Jesus" for his beard, long locks and gentle demeanor away from the table, earned $250,000 for placing second.

Each player put up an entry fee of $20,000 in the invitation-only, no-limit Texas hold 'em tournament that will air on NBC starting April 16.

"I'm very happy with the way I played," Forrest said. "I thought I played pretty well throughout, even though it was not an easy field.

"Everyone in here was a great player, and I think that brings out the best in me."

Known as one of the more low-key and soft-spoken players on the poker scene despite his fiercely competitive nature, Forrest characteristically declined to showboat after winning the title, though he did manage a big smile and some fist pumping.

"What it means to my career, or my exposure, I don't really know," Forrest said. "It does mean a lot for my confidence."

For Ferguson, the 2000 World Series of Poker champion, it was a second consecutive runner-up finish. In last year's tournament, held at the Golden Nugget, he lost to Phil Hellmuth in the final round.

But Jesus was just all right with that outcome.

"It is so much harder to come in second two years in a row than it is to win it once," Ferguson, 43, said.

"Still, I am a little bit disappointed."

NBC poker analyst Gabe Kaplan compared the mano-a-mano appeal of heads-up poker to prizefighting, and the clash between Forrest and Ferguson - which began Monday evening and continued well past midnight - was indeed like a riveting 15-rounder.

Forrest clinched it when he moved all-in on the final hand with king-7, Ferguson called with queen-jack and two more kings hit the board.

The pivotal hand had come moments before, when Forrest made trip sixes on the river to deal a devastating blow to Ferguson's chip stack.

Ferguson won the first match of the championship round, although he found himself down to a mere $125,000 in chips after losing a dramatic showdown.

Forrest, holding a flush, made a big bet on the end. Ferguson, impassive behind his signature sunglasses and black cowboy hat, thought long and hard - what will Jesus do? - before calling the bet and revealing just pocket sixes.

"It's interesting that Chris chose to turn them over face-up," said tournament consultant Eric Drache, watching the action from the NBC production truck behind Caesars. "It's his way of saying he's not going to be bluffed."

Ferguson called Forrest the toughest player he faced in either year of the heads-up tournament, which is single-elimination in all but the final round. Ferguson advanced past Freddy Deeb, Chip Reese, Josh Arieh, Jim McManus and Huck Seed before meeting Forrest.

Forrest defeated Erik Seidel, Chad Brown, Ernie Dureck, Sam Farha and Sean Sheikhan along with Ferguson. His grueling match with Farha lasted 3 1/2 hours, a tournament record, and featured 14 all-in situations.

"Ted is one of the most talented, fearless poker players out there," Ferguson said. "He deserves all the credit in the world."