Phil Hellmuth’s new opponent for $800K ‘High Stakes Duel’ revealed

Phil Hellmuth’s next opponent on “High Stakes Duel III” was revealed Friday.

Poker pro Scott Seiver will sit across from Hellmuth in the No-limit Hold ’em match, with the winner pocketing the $800,000 prize. The heads-up contest will premiere on subscription video service PokerGO at 5 p.m. Tuesday, with the first hour being shown free on PokerGO’s YouTube channel.

Seiver replaces Tom Dwan, who was forced to pull out of Thursday’s Round 4 match because of scheduling conflicts.

“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 said in a statement released by PokerGO. ““There will be trash talk before and during, 100 percent.”

Hellmuth won eight of nine matches in the “High Stakes Duel” format, going 3-0 against well-known pros Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu. The “Poker Brat” also defeated FS1 talk show personality Nick Wright in a $50,000 buy-in heads-up match before he lost a $100,000 buy-in game to Dwan in August during Round 2 of “High Stakes Duel III.”

Hellmuth avenged the loss to Dwan, a regular at high-stakes cash games around the world, and the two were set to meet in the rubber match with each player putting up a $400,000 entry fee.

Seiver, 37, is a three-time World Series of Poker event winner with more than $24 million in live tournament earnings. He owns a heads-up record of 13-8, according to HendonMob.com, and has crossed paths with Hellmuth at multiple final tables during his career.

Hellmuth, 57, is the all-time leader with 16 WSOP tournament victories and has more than $27 million in career live earnings, according to HendonMob.com.

“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,” Seiver said. “His game is speech play, but he is one of the best in the world at it.”

Based on the rules of “High Stakes Duel,” there will be a Round 5 match with each competitor buying in for $800,000 regardless of who wins between Hellmuth and Seiver. The loser of Round 4 has the first right to a rematch, and a new player will be invited if they decline.

Both Hellmuth and Seiver need to win two consecutive matches in order to be eligible to walk away victorious.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.