It’s on…again. It took many months, but High Stakes Duel will return on January 26. Phil Hellmuth will take on Tom Dwan again in a heads-up match at the PokerGO Studio, and this time, they’ll play for a $400K pot.
High Stakes Duel started in 2020 as a PokerGO original. Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari were the first takers, each willing to put up $50K to play heads-up poker. The two had a long history of heads-up beef. While mostly good-natured, it was time to settle it on the felt. Hellmuth won the first match, the second, and then a third. Hellmuth walked away with $400K in winnings.
The next challenger was recreational poker player and Fox Sports broadcaster Nick Wright. The July 2021 match was an entertaining one, but Hellmuth walked away with the $100K pot when it ended. Wright chose not to challenge for a rematch.
Defeating the Undefeated
Tom Dwan is a bit of an online poker legend who eventually moved on to high-stakes poker, mostly in Macau cash games. Over the course of many years, Hellmuth criticized Dwan’s play. He consistently said that the younger pro’s online play wouldn’t translate into live play, but Dwan’s win over Hellmuth in a 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship match only fueled Hellmuth’s disdain.
The two seemed to have a somewhat contentious relationship through the years. Fans wanted a Dwan-Hellmuth match, and they both agreed to play in late August 2021, each putting in $100K. It was unpredictable, though a Hellmuth meltdown was very predictable. In the end, Dwan won and ended Hellmuth’s tremendous winning streak.
https://youtu.be/VY7iq9BBNx8
Rematch!
It took some time, but Hellmuth wants another chance to beat Dwan. He had been undefeated until the man formerly known as durrrr took away the title. Hellmuth wants it back.
The two will get together at the PokerGO Studio on the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, January 26. This round of High Stakes Duel will begin at 8pm ET, with the first hour airing live on PokerGO’s YouTube channel for free. After that, poker fans must subscribe to see the rest.
(PokerGO is offering $20 off of an annual subscription with the code HSD3R3.)
Each player will commit $200K to the pot. The winner can either accept a rematch with the opponent or accept a new heads-up match with a new challenger, either forcing the players to put up $400K each to play. According to the High Stakes Duel rules, a player can only claim the prize money after three consecutive wins before Round 4 or two consecutive wins starting with Round 4. For those keeping track, the January 26 match is Round 3 of the current High Stakes Duel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY1ynK-vE44
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