The battle to win $800,000 was due to be between Phil Hellmuth and Tom Dwan. Last week, however, all that changed when Tom Dwan withdrew from the bout. Scott Seiver was announced as Hellmuth’s opponent just a couple of days ago in a dramatic reveal that has surprised the poker world.
Seiver, one of the biggest opponents who could challenge Hellmuth, is determined to win back-to-back duels and scoop a massive $1.6m in round 5. Before that, however, he must take care of the Poker Brat in Round 4.
Seiver Lays Down Gauntlet to ‘Speech Play’ King
Scott Seiver will not be underestimated by Hellmuth as a replacement opponent for Tom Dwan, and while those two players have differences in their games, neither is necessarily easier than the other. Seiver has won a frankly awesome 13 heads-up matches in ranking tournaments over the years, including against opponents such as David Seidman and Farzad Bonyadi. Of his many tournament cashes, only eight of them have been runner-up finishes, meaning that in his professional career, Seiver has won 13 heads-up clashes to 8 defeats.
“This program has been a must-watch event each episode so far and I wanted an opportunity to be a part of the action and hopefully add my own mark on it,” Seiver told PokerGO when quizzed about the forthcoming battle against Hellmuth.
“It is impossible to not respect Phil Hellmuth’s poker game because the results speak for themselves, however, where his talent lies is probably most misunderstood by the general public as opposed to those with a more nuanced view. His game is speech play, but he is one of the best in the world at it.”
Seiver confirmed that ‘there will be trash talk before and during, 100%,’ when he was questioned about the match. “I’m not really thinking about losing, but I expect to rematch if it happens,” he said. “You’d have to ask him if he would rematch, not me.”
Where Can you Watch High Stakes Duel?
Seiver sounds very keen for proving himself the very best against Phil Hellmuth in High Stakes Duel III Round 4, which will be broadcast on PokerGO on Tuesday, May 17th at 8.00 p.m Eastern Time. The pair, who will duke it out for $800,000 having paid $400,000 each. Anyone who hasn’t yet subscribed can use the code ‘HSD3R4’ and save $20, with the first hour of the match being broadcast for nothing on PokerGO’s YouTube channel.
With all Hellmuth’s previous encounters in the High Stakes Duel format being available on PokerGO, the stakes will double until one player wins two rounds in a row and can cash out. Whoever is to lose the match on May 17th will be able to rechallenge, but if neither man does so, then a new competitor will enter the fray and put up the $800,00 required to take part in Round V.
The two men have less history than many players at their level. They did clash at the final table of the 2011 Poker Players Championship at the World Series of Poker, however, which Seiver says was his ‘favorite memory’ of playing the Poker Brat. On that occasion, Hellmuth came second for a million dollars while Seiver came seventh for a quarter of those winnings.
What is Hellmuth’s Record and How Can Seiver Stop Him?
Helmuth’s record in this format is simply astonishing. In three matches against both Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu, as well as two duels against Tom Dwan and one against Nick Wright, the Californian’s record is eight wins and only one defeat – in his first match against Tom Dwan.
In the latest updated match odds from Las Vegas insiders, Brent Hanks, co-host on the hit PokerGO show No Gamble, No Future, said that Seiver was currently the -132 betting favorite, while Hellmuth, the eight-time champion in this format, was outsider at +119. On the basis of this match being played without either being able to cash out, we love those odds for Hellmuth to make it 9:1 rather than Seiver to grab what we’d consider a slight shock victory.
Will White Magic prevail, or could Scott Seiver prove himself to be the Poker Brat’s toughest opponent yet? We can’t wait to find out tomorrow night exclusively on PokerGO. Between them, the two men share over $51.4 million in tournament earnings alone, so with close to a million on the line, the action is bound to be fast and the odds are it’ll be furious too, given both players’ combustibility.
