Phil Hellmuth defeated Daniel Negreanu for the second consecutive match in the second round of their high-stakes heads-up battle on PokerGO’s High Stakes Duel.
The 15-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner won the entire $200,000 prize pool, profiting half of it, as the second round doubled the stakes and required a $100,000 buy-in.
At the end of March, during their first-round match, Hellmuth mounted an epic comeback after Negreanu jumped out to a 19:1 chip lead. Hellmuth’s victory prompted Negreanu to take his rematch option with double the stakes, which took place Wednesday evening in Las Vegas at the PokerGO studio in Aria.
With his victory, Hellmuth has five straight wins in the High Stakes Duel series after he swept Antonio Esfandiari in three matches, netting a profit $350,000 in the process. Over his last five matches, Hellmuth is in the black $500,000.
There will be a third and possibly final match between Negreanu and Hellmuth, likely in early June. It will have a $200,000 buy-in.
While it wasn’t the monster comeback he completed in the previous match, Negreanu did hold the chip lead for a significant portion of the match and held as large as a 3:1 chip advantage at one point in the match.
But a key bluff and a bad beat eventually swung the match in Hellmuth’s favor.
During the first level of play, Hellmuth got out to a small chip lead simply by check-calling and picking off several of Negreanu’s bluffs. Negreanu drew first blood, however, when he got three bets in the middle on the river with top set.
With blinds of 150-300, Hellmuth limped with 6
4 and Negreanu raised out of the big blind with J
J
. The flop was 1063 and Negreanu bet 1,200. Hellmuth called. The turn was the J and Negreanu bet 3,100. Hellmuth called.
The river was the 4 and Negreanu bet for a third time, this time 13,000. Hellmuth thought for a bit before raising to 28,000 with his two pair. Negreanu eventually clicked it back and made it 43,000. Hellmuth hemmed and hawed before calling.
The pot was pushed in Negreanu’s direction and he held 144,000 of the 200,000 chips in play.
A few levels later, with blinds of 400-800, Hellmuth rivered a flush and brought the match back in his favor. Negreanu raised to 2,000 on the button with Q10 and Hellmuth three-bet to 8,000 out of the big blind with 10
9.
The flop was Q82 and both players checked to the 9 turn. Hellmuth bet 9,000 and Negreanu called. The river was the 4, giving Hellmuth his flush, and he bet 18,000. Negreanu mulled it over for a bit before calling.
Hellmuth regained the lead, but it was short lived. Negreanu’s K4 bested Hellmuth’s 108 on a board of 652Q6 to put him back into the lead. Hellmuth check-called down, so Negrenu’s chip lead was still rather small.
The two players basically traded jabs for quite some time. Hellmuth picked off a few bluffs to pick up a 4:3 advantage in chips. And then Negreanu won some pots to flip the score.
After more than four and a half hours of play, however, fireworks finally began to fly and the match ended in a series of three hands. With blinds of 1,000-2,000, and Hellmuth holding 114,000 of the 200,000 chips in play, Hellmuth raised on the button to 4,000 with Q4. Negreanu defended his blind with Q6.
Both players chcked a flop of Q72 and the 6 came on the turn. Negreanu bet 5,500 and Hellmuth raised to 12,500. Negreanu three-bet to 28,000 and Hellmuth called. Negreanu shoved on the 10 river and Hellmuth folded.
That pot gave Negreanu the small advantage, but on the very next hand, Hellmuth regained the lead with a massive bluff.
Negreanu raised to 4,000 on the button with 97 and Hellmuth three-bet to 14,000 with 102. Negreanu called. The flop was K66 and Hellmuth bet 13,000. Negreanu called. The turn was the 8, giving both players a flush draw.
Hellmuth bet 28,000 and Negreanu called. Hellmuth moved all in on the 9 river, which gave Negreanu the best hand, but he couldn’t pull the trigger for the rest of Hellmuth’s chips. Hellmuth opened up a 3:1 chip lead.
Just a few hands later, with Negreanu sitting on a stack of about 50,000, he raised to 4,000 on the button with 88 and Hellmuth moved all in out of the big blind with A4. Negreanu called.
The board ran out J996K, giving Hellmuth a flush, the pot and the match.
“Good job, buddy,” said Negreanu. “You played well. I thought you played well. This one, I thought you played a lot better than the first one. I guess we’ll have to see you again in round three.”
“So it’s an official challenge,” said Hellmuth about the eventual rematch. “I got lucky in this one."
If Hellmuth wins the third match, he has the option to cash out his winnings and book a $700,000 profit over his last six heads-up matches. If Negreanu wins, on the other hand, any further matches would have to continue to double in stakes. Hellmuth does have the option to quit, however.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
