Fans have been waiting for this
PokerGO has announced that the next matchup in its young, but increasingly popular High Stakes Duel series will be the undefeated Phil Hellmuth versus Tom Dwan. The contest will take place on August 25 at 8:00pm ET at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas.
The above image my look a bit confusing, as it says “Round 2” when Hellmuth and Dwan have yet to play against each other in this format. Round 1 was Hellmuth’s recent match against sports radio host and television personality Nick Wright, which Hellmuth won. Wright had the option to go for Round 2 himself and up the stakes from $50,000 to $100,000, but he decided against it. Thus, Round 2 will be against Tom Dwan.
Last heads-up meeting got testy
Hellmuth and Dwan have a history that goes way back, though it consists mainly of one famous encounter. The two faced off in the old NBC National Heads-Up Championship in 2008. At the time, Dwan was a poker wunderkind, known by his online handle “durrrr.” In just a few hands, the two got all their money in, Hellmuth holding Aces and Dwan with Tens. Dwan sucked out on the turn to eliminate Hellmuth, who, naturally got all pissy about it, criticizing Dwan’s play.
“We’ll see if you’re even around in five years time.”
While the dealer was counting the stacks to be sure Hellmuth was knocked out, the two players sniped at each other, with Dwan challenging Hellmuth to another match for whatever stakes Hellmuth wanted. The 15-time WSOP champ did not take Dwan up on the offer, instead saying, now infamously: “We’ll see if you’re even around in five years time.”
Yeah…you whiffed on that call.
Hellmuth is rolling
Before his match against Nick Wright, Hellmuth swept Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu in three matches each; he has not lost yet on High Stakes Duel. And his confidence is sky high, welcoming all comers.
“They told me after I beat Antonio [Esfandiari] that it was going to be [Phil] Ivey, and I said OK,” Hellmuth told PokerGO. “They said it was going to be [Tom] Dwan, and I said OK.”
Of course, he still chalks up losses to bad luck: “You know,” he said, “of all the people on the planet, Phil Ivey has held over me more, like when we’ve played tournaments together, I’ll have ace-king suited and he’ll have aces with seven left at the LAPC. Ivey has gotten away with a lot against me, and so had Antonio, and I relish playing people heads up who have beaten me a lot because at least I’m going to get to play them 600 hands and I’m going to get rid of that whatever you call it, you know, bit of unluckiness, right? Dwan or Ivey, whoever. Either one is fine.”
And so it will be Tom Dwan in three weeks. As it is Round 2, the buy-in is $100,000. The loser is permitted to call it quits or initiate a rematch, but the stakes would then increase to $200,000.
Image credit: PokerGO.com