The biggest High Stakes Duel ever to take place on PokerGO will take place on May 12th between Tom Dwan and Phil Hellmuth. After much deliberation, the two men decided to return to the PokerGO Studio at ARIA in Las Vegas as Tom Dwan used his mandatory challenge against the Poker Brat.
Hellmuth and Dwan will now battle it out for an incredible $800,000, with each man putting up $400,000 to take part.
Hellmuth Can’t Wait to Take on Dwan
“Tom Dwan is one of the best poker players in the world.” ~ Phil Hellmuth
With just a fortnight before the two men lock horns again on May 12th, this time for the biggest prize anyone has contested in the High Stakes Duel format, Hellmuth can’t wait to get down to it. The 16-time WSOP bracelet winner told us he has a lot of respect for his opponent.
“Tom Dwan is one of the best poker players in the world,” he said. When we asked him about the qualities Dwan has, Hellmuth was unequivocal.
“His fearlessness, his creativeness, and his uber-aggression.” Said The Poker Brat, who is by far the most successful High Stakes Duel player in the history of the format. “[Those qualities] make him an unbelievably great heads-up poker player. He is a tough, tough out!”
Hellmuth is right to be respectful of his opponent and it is clear that while they are rivals at the felt, the two men are friendly off it.
In a limo w THIS guy! Great poker player, great guy, super fun to chill with #POSITIVITY Hello @TomDwan! pic.twitter.com/h21NebsOfT
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) April 20, 2022
After his initial loss to Dwan in their first High Stakes Duel, Hellmuth got his revenge in a thrilling and dominant second round victory. As Hellmuth says, Dwan is capable of ‘making any move at any time’, so he will need to be at his absolute best to win the biggest prize ever awarded in the high Stakes Duel format.
Where Can You Watch the Match?
While the first hour of the match will be shown for free on PokerGO’s YouTube channel from 8 pm Eastern Time on May 12th, PokerGO subscribers will be able to watch the whole game and can even get $20 off a yearly PokerGO.com subscription by using the code ‘HSD3R4’ at the online check-out.
The program will again be presented by Ali Nejad, with a ‘Weigh In’, ‘Hype Show’, and then the match itself. The match is titled ‘Round 4’ of High Stakes Duel, referencing the opening HSD match between Hellmuth and Nick Wright as Round 1. Dwan then beat Hellmuth, before the Poker Brat got his revenge in the previous episode of the format.
Dwan’s rematch means we’ll see a pivotal High Stakes Duel III Round 4 when the two men will fight at the felt for $400,000 each, the halfway point of a potential eight-round series. It’s sure to be a thrilling match, but will it conclude after the trilogy is in the bank? It looks extremely unlikely.
Who Can Cash Out and When?
Prior to this round, many poker fans believed that each man would need to win three consecutive matches in order to ‘cash out’ and take home the money. That is not quite the case, however. If a player wins three games that start before Round 4 they can take the money, but they only need to win two consecutive games from Round 4 onwards to claim the money.
For both Hellmuth (who won Round 3) and Dwan, a win in Round 4 and Round 5 would lead to either man being able to cash out an incredible $1.6 million. If either man declines to play in that Round 5 bout, then another competitor could step into the seat and battle for that next victory.
The series has the potential to go all the way to Round 8, where players would play for a massive $12.8 winner-take-all title.
