Phil Hellmuth rallies to win marathon match with Daniel Negreanu

Phil Hellmuth had been under attack from Daniel Negreanu, and he finally got a chance to fight back.

Hellmuth rallied from a 19-1 chip deficit to beat Negreanu in their $50,000 buy-in “High Stakes Duel” broadcast Wednesday on the subscription video service PokerGO.

The heads-up match, played at the PokerGO studio by the Aria, took more than six hours to complete. The players started with 50,000 in chips, and at one point Negreanu held a chip lead of about 95,000 to 5,000. But Hellmuth battled back, eventually took over the chip lead and pulled out the victory.

Hellmuth is the all-time leader in World Series of Poker bracelets with 15. But Negreanu called that legacy into question, saying Hellmuth won against mostly weaker fields and couldn’t compete against top players.

“I think he affected me mentally by attacking my legacy a little bit,” Hellmuth told PokerGO. “I felt like I had been under attack all month.”

In the final hand, a short-stacked Negreanu went all-in with seven-six of hearts, and Hellmuth called with pocket nines. Negreanu flopped a straight flush draw, but Hellmuth’s hand — the same one he used to win the WSOP Main Event in 1989 — held on.

Negreanu, a -159 favorite to win the match on pokershares.com, has the right to a rematch at double the stakes, an option he immediately exercised.

“There will be a rematch. You can guarantee that,” Negreanu said as they shook hands.

It appeared Negreanu wouldn’t need one in the early going. He flopped a king against Hellmuth’s pocket jacks to take a sizable lead, then extended it when he hit nine on the turn with king-nine to beat Hellmuth’s ace-eight.

Hellmuth, known as the “Poker Brat” for his sometimes combative demeanor at the table, called Negreanu an “(expletive) idiot.”

Hellmuth got under 5,000 in chips, but eventually got the double-up he needed when he flopped a queen-high flush draw and got all-in against Negreanu’s ten-high flush draw. Hellmuth ended up making a straight.

After that, the cards ran Hellmuth’s way. He made a flush on the river to beat Negreanu’s top pair, then made two pair on the river to beat another top pair. Negreanu battled but wasn’t able to turn the tide again.

Hellmuth, 56, has more than $24 million in career tournament earnings, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database. Negreanu, 46, is a six-time WSOP bracelet winner with $42 million in tournament earnings.

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.