Phil Poker
First, Daniel Negreanu wanted to play Phil Hellmuth heads-up. Now, he’s making a high-stakes bet that he can’t compete against the world’s best poker players in high-stakes tournaments.
Poker News Daily is one of the top resources for poker strategy, news, player profiles, reviews and more. Must be 18+ years or older to gamble. 16 hours ago A 15-time World Series Poker (WSOP) champion, Phil Hellmuth is regarded by many as the best poker player in the world. Dominating in Texas.
Negreanu tweeted Tuesday afternoon that he bet against the 15-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner being profitable in the $25,000 buy-in tournaments that have recently started running again at the Aria in Las Vegas. Negreanu will be laying 2:1 against Hellmuth profiting over a 50-tournament sample size.
- WSOP legend Phil Hellmuth is having a rough day at the office. After setting up what he believes to be a brilliant psychological tactic, he runs into the tur.
- Poker news site covering online poker, new jersey online poker, california online poker, nevada online poker, pokerstars, full tilt, WSOP, Borgata, 888 and more. The Fives Poker Podcast: Phil Hellmuth Joins the Show To Talk Taking On Negreanu and More.
Negreanu will be laying $400,000 against Hellmuth’s $200,000. If Hellmuth finishes in the black over the course of that sample size, Negreanu will lose the bet and fork over the six-figure sum.
Bet offered and accepted:
I’m laying $400k to phil_hellmuth</a> $200k that over 50 $25k buy in <a href='https://twitter.com/AriaLV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>AriaLV tournaments that Hellmuth will end up in the red.
If he shows a $1 profit he wins the bet.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) March 2, 2021
The bet looks like an extension of a recently ignited feud between the two poker legends. Following Negreanu’s seven-figure loss to Doug Polk in their high-stakes heads-up grudge match, Hellmuth publicly criticized the six-time bracelet winner’s play in the challenge.
Hellmuth’s words sparked a fiery response from Negreanu, who offered to play heads-up at any stakes in any venue for any duration. The challenge seemed to imply a cash game challenge, which Negreanu had just spent months studying, but the two agreed to play in a heads-up sit-n-go format on PokerGO’s “High Stakes Duel.”
It will be Hellmuth’s second battle on the show after beating Antonio Esfandiari three straight matches for $400,000 in his first go-around.
Not only is Negreanu calling his heads-up game into question but is now openly doubting how good Hellmuth is at multi-table tournaments, a format that has netted him the career WSOP bracelet record, as well as more than $22 million in earnings.
Other high roller regulars are agreeing with Negreanu. Ali Imsirovic, a 24-year-old pro who made a meteoric rise up the ranks while netting more than $9 million in career tournament earnings, offered to wager even more if Hellmuth was willing to take more action.
If hellmuth wants more action, I’ll bet as much as he wants. pic.twitter.com/nBZMXR1QSt
Phil Hellmuth Arrested
— Ali (@aliImsirovic) March 3, 2021
Four-time WSOP bracelet winner and 2009 WSOP main event winner Joe Cada was willing to bet that the challenge doesn’t even get completed.
Can I bet this challenge doesn’t get completed? Has Phil even played over 50 25k’s in his lifetime?
— Joseph Cada (@JoeCada99) March 3, 2021
Poker Phil Galfond
A few others implied that the regulars are already licking their chops at the thought of Hellmuth being a regular spot in the field.
25k regs rn pic.twitter.com/kMIXDjIGep
— Max Silver (@max_silver) March 3, 2021
Germans right now pic.twitter.com/XTQh6nAt80
Phil Poker Pro
— Alex Huang (@alexjhuang) March 3, 2021
Aria’s Director of Poker Operations Sean McCormack said in the thread that Aria has “a few a month on average,” when someone asked how many $25,000 buy-ins run regularly. It will likely take Hellmuth most of the year to complete the challenge at that pace, but the frequency that the property runs those tournaments will increase if there is a major live tournament series this summer or fall.
When it comes to high-stakes tournaments, Hellmuth has always been somewhat of a polarizing figure.
During his heads-up match with Esfandiari, high-stakes legend Phil Galfond gave Hellmuth props, saying that it took him a long time to realize “just how talented he is.” The tweet was met with backlash from many high-stakes pros claiming that Hellmuth was overrated.
Phil Ivey, one of the most successful poker players in the world, has come out publicly to announce his affiliation with the online poker room Poker King.
In an interview with friend and fellow professional poker player Barry Greenstein, Ivey confirmed, “Yeah, I’m with Poker King.”
Late last month, in a video mocking sponsored pros at other sites including, Jaime Staples, Ike Haxton and Daniel Negreanu, Poker King announced its three sponsored prosTom Dwan, Jean Robert Bellande and Phil Ivey. However, this appears to be the first time that Ivey has confirmed his support for the site.
You can check out the interview with Greenstein below where Ivey attributes his strong mental health to becoming more conscience, meditating, praying and yoga. And for your amusement, we have also included the Poker King announcement video.