Not long after, the two got involved in a big hand. Hellmuth took a 20K-chip lead about 30 minutes into the match with a straight over two pair. The heads-up poker action started with Hellmuth taking the first two hands, but Koon took a few to even it out. He said that “being as decorated as I am” is difficult when people try to dismiss it or not give him the accolades he believes he deserves. Hellmuth blamed his temper and ego issues, his loss of emotional control at the table, on haters. Hellmuth also gave kudos to Koon for his top-level play in tournaments and cash games…before he talked about himself and how the poker world doesn’t give him proper credit for his own accomplishments. Koon started by giving proper credit to Hellmuth for his decades in the game, specifically his dominance in this heads-up format. On December 7 at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, Hellmuth and Koon sat across the heads-up poker table from one another for the “Weigh-In.” It was a chance for Ali Nejad to question the two about the match, for the audience to get a feel for the mindset of each player before the high-stakes game began. Finally, Jason Koon stepped up with the money, and he played Hellmuth on December 7 for $1.6M. Anyone could challenge Hellmuth but had to pay $800K for the opportunity. Hellmuth beat Seiver this June for $800K. When Dwan was unable to arrange another match, Scott Seiver took over. Tom Dwan challenged and beat Phil Hellmuth for $200K. High Stakes Duel 3: Hellmuth beat Fox Sports broadcaster and recreational poker player Nick Wright for $100K.High Stakes Duel 2: Hellmuth defeated Daniel Negreanu in three games.High Stakes Duel 1: Hellmuth defeated Antonio Esfandiari in three games.Few were up for the challenge of trying to beat Phil Hellmuth in this format, and fewer were ready or capable of putting up $800K to do it.Īs a quick reminder of the history of High Stakes Duel on PokerGO:

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