Phil Hellmuth announces $1.6M rematch on ‘High Stakes Duel’
Phil Hellmuth is ready for a rematch on “High Stakes Duel III.”
The “Poker Brat” announced on Twitter late Monday that Scott Seiver has exercised his right to face Hellmuth for the second time after losing in Round 4 of the heads-up, No-limit Hold’em event.
The match will take place in August and be shown on subscription video service PokerGO, although the exact date is yet to be determined, Hellmuth said. The winner will take home $1.6 million.
Here we go for $1,600,000. High Stakes Duel update: @scott_seiver has exercised his option to play me in a heads match for $800,000 apiece ($1.6M). The match will be in August, we are working out dates right now. Match is ONLY on @PokerGo App, and will be shown in it’s entirety
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) June 14, 2022
PokerGO has not officially announced the rematch.
Hellmuth is 9-1 on “High Stakes Duel” and profited $1.25 million from the matches. He went 3-0 against both Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu, then defeated FS1 talk show host Nick Wright in a $50,000 buy-in heads-up match.
High-stakes pro Tom Dwan beat Hellmuth in a $100,000 buy-in game last August during Round 2 of “High Stakes Duel III.” Hellmuth avenged that loss and was set to meet Dwan in the rubber match last month with each player putting up a $400,000 entry fee. But Dwan pulled out days before they were set to play, and Seiver took his seat.
Hellmuth used a well-timed bluff en route to a victory over Seiver during their Round 4 match May 17.
In Round 5, Hellmuth and Seiver will each buy in for $800,000. Should Hellmuth emerge victorious, the rules of “High Stakes Duel III” state he would be allowed walk away with his profit.
A victory by Seiver would give Hellmuth the option to pay $1.6 million for a rematch in Round 6, or the seat will be open for a new opponent.
Seiver, 37, won his fourth World Series of Poker bracelet this summer when he took down the $2,500 buy-in Freezeout No-limit Hold’em event for $320,059. He ranks 24th on the all-time tournament money list with nearly $25 million in career earnings, according to HendonMob.com.
Hellmuth, 57, is the all-time leader with 16 WSOP tournament victories and has more than $27 million in career live earnings. He has endured a difficult summer, including a positive test for COVID-19 that prevented him from playing in WSOP events for more than a week.
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.