Phil Hellmuth to face FS1 host Nick Wright on next ‘High Stakes Duel’
Phil Hellmuth will take on Fox Sports 1 host Nick Wright in his next “High Stakes Duel.”
The $50,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em heads-up match will air at 5 p.m. July 28 on the subscription video service PokerGO, whose studio is on the Strip next to the Aria.
After besting fellow professionals Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu in previous matches, Hellmuth will be taking on an amateur in Wright, the co-host of “First Things First” weekdays on FS1.
Under the “High Stakes Duel” rules, the loser has the right to two rematches at double the stakes. Hellmuth swept three straight matches against Esfandiari and Negreanu, netting a profit of $350,000 each time ($50,000 for the first match, then $100,000, then $200,000).
Before the public announcement, Hellmuth tweeted about his next opponent: “did NOT see this one coming.”
After the announcement, Wright tweeted: “He’s undefeated in this format. I cannot wait.”
Spoiler Alert: It's me. July 28th at the @PokerGO studios at the Aria in Vegas. Me and Hellmuth, $50K each.
He's undefeated in this format. I cannot wait. https://t.co/WEA7K0Q4aW
— nick wright (@getnickwright) June 29, 2021
Hellmuth, 56, is the all-time leader with 15 World Series of Poker tournament victories, and he has more than $24 million in tournament earnings, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database.
Wright, 36, has no tournament earnings, according to Hendon Mob, but he played alongside Hellmuth in upcoming episodes of “Poker After Dark” on PokerGO.
“Phil has had massive success in this event playing against professionals who clearly think they’re better than him, but now he has to play an amateur who has no such delusions,” Wright told PokerGO. “I am almost incalculably worse than Phil at all forms of poker, most notably this form that he may have mastered. I think that should work in my favor! It might actually throw him off!”
Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.