So, imagine you're from Greensburg, Indiana.

You're one of a few more than 10,000 people living in the little city southwest of Indianapolis. The city isn't known for putting out famous folk, least of all famous poker players. The more likely exports from Greensburg's borders are flour, caskets, and brooms.

Alisha Kunze, known on PokerStars as Ace_Race21$$, is one of those ten thousand folks from the happy little city of Greensburg. At 23 years old, Kunze had been working as a Production Scheduler until a few weeks ago. It wasn't all she wanted out of life.

Ambition, as is its wont, got the better of the young midwesterner. She decided to go back to school to become a nurse. All the while, though, she had another little passion that kept her busy. For the past four or five years, she's been playing cards.

Money was never really the issue. With nursing school slated to fill up her professional life, she had that part covered. Her spare time was spent on the basketball court as a volunteer coach for the Special Olympics.

Of couse, there was time for a few hands on PokerStars. Recently, PokerStars ran a series of freeroll tournaments and Kunze started doing well. How well?

Let's put it this way: This weekend, Kunze will have have one of the most coveted seats in all of poker. She'll be playing in the NBC National Heads Up Championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. After winning the PokerStars satellites to the event, Kunze became one of the 64 players who will be fighting it out in the $20,000 buy-in event.

"The experience is going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity and the excitement is overcoming the nervousness," Kunze said late Monday. "I am just pleased to have the chance."

Friday night, Kunze will have the opportunity to attend the red carpet gala event at Pure where the seat draw for the Heads Up Championship will be announced. After that, it's off to work.

Good luck to Greenburg, Indiana's own Alisha Kunze.

You can rest assured, the world will be watching.