Phil Hellmuth hasn’t been shy to tell the poker world that he is undoubtedly the GOAT (greatest of all time) in poker history. He is a member of the poker hall of fame, a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner, a 15-time WSOP bracelet winner, and has just under $25 million in career prize money.
7-0 Run At High Stakes Duel Games
While Hellmuth hasn’t set the poker world alive in recent years as he has not won any big poker tournaments. Most of his success in the last couple of years has come from his winning streak at the High Stakes Duel games that have taken place at the PokerGo’s studio which is situated at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Hellmuth played the first game against Antonio Esfandiari in High Stakes Duel I in July 2020 and won $100,000. High Stakes Duel I consisted of 3 games and Esfandiari did his best to win Game 2 which took place on 23 Sep but lost again. Hellmuth took home $200,000 for his win and the third and final game took place on 21 Oct 2020. Hellmuth once again showed his class and defeated The Magician to win $400,000. In all, he took home $700,000 in prize money.
The organizers gave Hellmuth a bigger challenge in High Stakes Duel II as they brought in Daniel Negreanu. Poker players expected a tough contest but Hellmuth played brilliantly and made things difficult for Kid Poker. Hellmuth won the first game on 30 March, 2021 and took home $100,000. Negreanu played him in Game 2 on 05 May but was unable to do anything to change the result.
Hellmuth pocketed another $200,000 for his Game 2 win. The third and final game in the contest took place on 23 June and once again Hellmuth stamped his authority on the game and finished with a 3-0 win. Hellmuth took home $4000 for his win in Game 3 and once again pocketed $700,000 in prize money from these three games.
Sports commentator Nick Wright was signed to face Hellmuth in High Stakes Duel III and this surprised the poker community. They wanted the Poker Brat to face a tougher opponent than Negreanu and Esfandiari, and did not think that Nick Wright would pose a big challenge.
They were right as Hellmuth made quick work of Nick Wright in Game 1 of High Stakes Duel III on July 8. Hellmuth pocketed $100,000 for this win and wasn’t surprised when Wright decided not to invoke his rematch clause and opted out. Hellmuth was on a 7-0 win streak and had won $1.5 million playing High Stakes Duel games.
Tom Dwan Brings 7-0 Streak To End
The organizers of the High Stakes Duel challenge decided to ask Tom Dwan if he could take the place of Nick Wright and play Hellmuth. Dwan and Hellmuth have a history together and Dwan was happy to accept the challenge.
For those who don’t know, Tom Dwan played Hellmuth back in 2008 and won the 2008 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship. Dwan was 22 years old at that time and was making waves in the poker world. Hellmuth wasn’t very happy with losing to Dwan and indirectly told him he wouldn’t be around in another 5 years.
Dwan has done reasonably well for himself over the years and now has over $5 million in career prize money. He accepted the High Stakes Duel III and found it tough going initially as the Poker Brat had a good start. However, Dwan kept chipping away and soon got the better of Phil Hellmuth to win the game and $200,000.
Phil Hellmuth now has the opportunity to ask for the rematch and play Dwan in the third and final game of High Stakes Duel III. He has up to 72 hours to make a decision!