Hellmuth Will Defend High Stakes Duel Title on May 12

Last updated on April 28th, 2022

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Two of the most well-known players in the poker world will meet up once again to play heads-up. Phil Hellmuth and Tom Dwan will compete in another round of High Stakes Duel, now set for Thursday, May 12. It is sure to be another entertaining evening of action between two of the game’s best minds and unique personalities.

High Stakes Duel III, Rounds 1-3

This is not the beginning of this series of High Stakes Duel matches in this series, but it could be the end. That depends on the outcome and the players. But it’s important to take a brief look at how this came to be.

High Stakes Duel I launched in 2020 with Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari putting a long-standing feud on the table. It was a great start for Hellmuth – not so much for his opponent – as he defeated Esfandiari in all three rounds.

High Stakes Duel II found Daniel Negreanu in the challenger’s seat, looking to take the title from the undefeated Hellmuth. However, Negreanu had no better luck and lost all three rounds to Hellmuth.

The third edition of the show started with a unique opponent. Fox Sports broadcaster Nick Wright had some experience playing poker but was, by no means, a pro. Still, he put up the $50K to challenge Hellmuth. The first round of that series found Wright doing better than many people anticipated, but he still came up short and lost to Hellmuth.

And Wright then decided not to challenge again.

My announcement on if I’m re-challenging @phil_hellmuth for the 200K Round 2 of #HighStakesDuel3 on @PokerGO pic.twitter.com/tCPYmgkclo
— nick wright (@getnickwright) July 31, 2021

Enter Tom Dwan in August 2021. Hellmuth was looking for a challenge for Round 2 of the third edition of High Stakes Duel and found one. It just happened to be one of the best poker players in the game and one with whom Hellmuth had a long history of trash talk.

And Dwan won. He defeated Hellmuth in a four-plus-hour match that left Hellmuth frustrated and looking for a rematch.

Round 3 took place in January 2022. The game took five and a half hours, and Hellmuth was able to reclaim his title in the end.

Round 4 Ready

In a continuation of High Stakes Duel III, Dwan said back in January that he wanted to challenge Hellmuth again. He would have to put up $400K to do it.

Both competitors now set a date and time for that rematch. With $800K in the pot, Hellmuth and Dwan will battle it out again at the PokerGO Studio on Thursday evening, May 12. The PokerGO broadcasting will begin with a hype show on Wednesday evening, May 11, featuring Ali Nejad. The show will discuss the history of this series and what is at stake for the current round.