On Wednesday night, Tom Dwan banked $200,000 and put an end to The Poker Brat’s one-year-long winning streak on High Stakes Duel. [Image: Flickr.com]A match 13 years in the making“Pick your stakes heads up, pick your stakes heads up,” said an impish Tom Dwan to an irate Phil Hellmuth in 2008, moments after he spiked a two-outer to crack The Poker Brat’s aces and dispatch him from theNBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. There was no love lost between the pair as they sparred verbally, a wounded Hellmuth telling Dwan: We’ll see if you’re even around in five years’ time.”On Wednesday night at the PokerGO studios in Las Vegas, the two finally picked their stakes as Phil Hellmuth squared off against easily his toughest opponent to date onHigh Stakes Duel. If Antonio Esfandiari was the amuse-bouche and Daniel Negreanu was the appetizer, then Nick Wright was a palate-cleansing sorbet in preparation for a ‘durrrr’-sized main course (I shouldn’t have written this before I had my breakfast).In what was billed as Round 2 ofHigh Stakes Duel III,each player put up $100,000. Dwan arrived with a fresh stake while Hellmuth carried forward his spoils of victory from Round 1. Hellmuth took an early lead, but once Dwan got in front, he kept the advantage for most of the five-and-a-half-hour clash. Dwan was ultimately victorious, ending Hellmuth’s one-year reign as champion ofHigh Stakes Duel.Dwan as the creator of epic poker TV momentsDown the years, Tom Dwan has treated us to his fair share of great poker moments. On High Stakes Poker, he and Barry Greenstein clashed in a memorable hand. Greenstein, who never runs it twice, offered Dwan the option to pull back $200,000 and play for a smaller pot. Dwan r mobilebet365 online casino India efused, and 15 seconds later, he pulled in a $920,000 pot, ending a sequence of events he would later explain to Nick Schulman in an interview for Poker King:On another episode ofHigh Stakes Poker,he put in $260,000 on the river versus Phil Ivey with 9 high like a… no, I refuse to go there! This hand was famously broken down by Doug Polk:Then, onPremier League Poker,needing to hit one of just four outs, taobao against taobao correct score Dwan knew to walk off the se India Football Predictions Site t. This was a canny understanding of how poker’s dark arts work.Last night, Dwan added the toppling of his old nemesis Phil Hellmuth to that list.Hellmuth dominant in the heads-up SNG formatRegardless of this defeat, Hellmuth has a stupendous, almost impossibly good record in live heads-up SNGs. The format forces players to play all the stack sizes, but as such it has more variance than a deeper cash game format.In 2005, he won the 64-playerNBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. In 2013, he won five straight matches but ultimately finished runner-up in the same event. In 2017, he defeated Doug Polk and Dan Cates to be crowned Poker Night In America’s ‘King of the Hill’. Before last night, he had seven straight victories inHigh Stakes Poker Duel.Despite his impressive resumé, Hellmuth went into the confrontation versus ‘durrrr’ as the underdog. According to PokerShares, Dwan was a -128 favorite while Hellmuth’s odds were a generous +110. 15 WSOP bracelets and over $24m in live tournament winningsHellmuth has consistently complained that the poker community does not respect his record. go188 With 15 WSOP bracelets and over $24m in live tournament winnings, the counter-punching self-styled Poker Brat is one of the most successful players in history. And yet, he is forced to prove himself again and again.Good-natured banter off the felt, all business at the tableAhead of the match, both Dwan and Hellmuth were in a relaxed mood, giving a joint interview to PokerNews:It’s so exciting being at @PokerGO Studio… getting to chat with @phil_hellmuth and @TomDwan before their big match. Listen to Phil share about his recent experience playing against @MrBeast at @ARIAPoker! pic.twitter.com/QTDDPSjbS2— PokerNews (@PokerNews) August 25, 2021Dwan joked about the prospect of a Hellmuth tirade in a pre-match interview with Jon Sofen:Our own @jonpokerwriter is here for High Stakes Duel III Round 2. He will write up a recap of the match after it’s all said and done. Before the players take their seats, Jon has a quick question for @TomDwan. pic.twitter.com/vAqhribBrO— PokerNews (@PokerNews) August 25, 2021However, once it went lights, camera, action, they were all business as they battled for the $200,000 prize. Hellmuth was calm and composed throughout the match by Hellmuth standards. But a few hours in, after missing his flush draw and losing a chunky pot to ace-high, the audience were treated to a trademark Hellmuth soliloquy:Tom gonna Tom. Phil gonna P taobao soccer hil.?https://t.co/MyyUKh6Ans pic.twitter.com/SPPazZNxBc— PokerGO (@PokerGO) August 26, 2021Hellmuth was resilient, his ultra-small ball approach forcing Dwan into a five-and-a-half-hour war of attrition. On the final hand, history would repeat itself as Hellmuthlimped in with pocket aces and Dwan checked back his nine-three. The flop brought a three, good enough for Dwan to commit the chips once Hellmuth shoved. A nine on the turn, a brick river, and that was all she wrote for Hellmuth, who must now decide whether he wants to pony up $200,000 for a re-match.Given the format, Hellmuth taobao online Best Online Casino would have to string three consecutive wins together to be allowed to cash out. That means that in a hypothetical final match, he would have to risk $800,000. It is likely, therefore, that he will bow out now, making way for a new challenger.