Per the rules of the show, Hellmuth had the option to either cash out, or take on another challenger in an $800,000 match that would continue the High Stakes Duel II series. Hellmuth chose to take his winnings and head for the exit, which means any two players could fill the seats for a potential High Stakes Duel III.
“Where’s the window, baby? I know Mori is not happy to hear that, but I would like to go to the cash-out window,” Hellmuth told PokerGO after the match.
Hellmuth refers to PokerGO president Mori Eskandani in that quote, with Eskandani presumably preferring Hellmuth to leave the challenger seat open for High Stakes Duel II.
Final hand cooler clinches another win for Hellmuth
The first round of High Stakes Duel II featured Hellmuth staging an improbable comeback, and the second round presented an up-and-down, even battle.
Round 3 saw Negreanu go up big at the start, then surrender that big lead to Hellmuth. Hellmuth kept Negreanu on the ropes for much of the latter part of the five-and-a-half-hour match, but Negreanu managed to pull back close to even on multiple occasions.
That chip stack rollercoaster set up a hand for the ages to close out High Stakes Duel II. Hellmuth began the hand with 216,000 chips to Negreanu’s 184,000.
With the blinds at 3,000/6,000, Negreanu limped with 6♠5♠, and Hellmuth checked back with T♦️6♦️. The flop came 2♦️7♠9♦️, Hellmuth checked, Negreanu bet 6,000, and Hellmuth called.
The turn brought doom for Negreanu, with the 8❤️ hitting the board. That card completed a straight for both players, but Hellmuth’s ten-high straight left Negreanu’s nine-high straight drawing slim to a chop.
Hellmuth checked again, Negreanu bet 12,000, and Hellmuth check-raised to 30,000. Negreanu thought it over for a few moments before going all-in, and Hellmuth made the call.
A ten on the river would have resulted in a split pot, but the 3♠ fell on fifth street to clinch the win for Hellmuth. Both players complimented each other on camera as the match concluded, and Hellmuth ran his overall High Stakes Duel record to 6-0.
Hellmuth swept Antonio Esfandiari in the original run of High Stakes Duel, and now stands at $700,000 in the black against Esfandiari and Negreanu combined.
“Haters are very interesting because Daniel drove some fans into my arms because he was a little bit out of line in our first match,” Hellmuth told PokerGO after the win. “He was a little bit mean to me, a little condescending, actually.”
“It didn’t bother me that much. I think there are always going to be haters, and I remember all these tournaments I’ve won over the last ten years, all these World Series of Poker tournaments. It’s a crazy number.”
Hellmuth said he plans on playing in the PokerGO Cup next month, the next high-stakes major tournament festival on the PokerGO Tour schedule.
Featured image source: PokerGO
