Hellmuth Beats Negreanu For Second Straight Time on High Stakes Duel

Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu faced each other again on May 5 for the second round of their heads-up match on PokerGo’s High Stakes Duel. When the dust settled, “The Poker Brat” once again defeated “DNegs“, but the battle is still far from over, as Negreanu still has a chance at redemption during Round 3 of the match, though no official schedule has been released yet.

Despite winning the first round back in March, Hellmuth entered Round 2 of the match as the underdog, with Negreanu still a strong favorite to win.

The $100,000 in prize pool during Round 1 remained in the pot, and Negreanu added another $100,000 as buy-in. With $200,000 in total prize money at stake, both players battled it out for five hours, with the lead being passed back and forth multiple times between the two poker legends.

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Hellmuth who is considered by some to be G.O.A.T is well-known for his aggressive play style, and that strategy was on full display during his recent rematch with Negreanu. The 15-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner used his usual bluffing technique and it proved successful. In fact, he managed to pull off one massive bluff during the final stages of the session, leading to his victory.

While Hellmuth’s critics had expected him to lose, the result didn’t come as a surprise. The American poker pro’s track record in the sit-n-go style heads-up format is quite impressive.

Hellmuth has never lost a match on High Stakes Duel – he outclassed Antonio Esfandiari in all of their three sessions, and now he is well ahead of Negreanu (2-0) in their ongoing battle. He won the inaugural NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship back in 2005, and also shipped a runner-up finish at the same competition in 2013.

Negreanu Still Struggles With Big Bluffs

Negreanu did try his best to turn things around during his rematch against Hellmuth, but it’s clear he needs to learn from his past mistakes. The Poker Hall of Famer still gives in to aggressive bets on the river holding marginal hands, a similar problem he encountered during his grudge match against Doug Polk where he ultimately lost $1.2 million.

But that’s not to say Negreanu didn’t put up a strong performance. Numerous times during the rematch, the Canadian poker also showed some aggressive play, only that the timing wasn’t right.

Well, Negreanu isn’t giving up just yet, as he is now looking forward to Round 3. He needs to shell out an additional $200,000 into the pot, with the total prize pool growing to $400,000. Assuming the battle extends much longer, the prize money could go as high as $12.8 million.

Will Hellmuth maintain his winning streak? We will find out soon.