Phil Hellmuth to face new opponent for ‘High Stakes Duel’ match

Phil Hellmuth will have a new opponent for his latest heads-up poker match.

Tom Dwan was forced to pull out of Thursday’s “High Stakes Duel III” No-limit Hold ’em match because of scheduling conflicts, according to PokerGO.

Rather than facing Dwan for the third time, Hellmuth will challenge a yet-to-be-announced player for the $800,000 prize. The match will be shown at 5 p.m. Tuesday by the subscription video service PokerGO, and an announcement of Hellmuth’s opposition is expected Monday.

Hellmuth and Dwan split their first two heads-up battles, with Hellmuth avenging his lone defeat in “High Stakes Duel” during a $200,000 buy-in match in January.

The “Poker Brat” had been 7-0 in the format, including three wins apiece over stars Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu, before he lost a $100,000 buy-in game to Dwan in August during Round 2 of “High Stakes Duel III.”

Dwan, 35, has more than $5 million in live earnings, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database, and is a renowned high-stakes cash-game player, sitting in nosebleed games around the world.

Hellmuth and Dwan appeared on Sunday’s “Hustler Casino Live,” taking on popular YouTubers and Twitch streamers in a $100/$200 No-limit Hold’em cash game. The show attracted more than 100,000 concurrent viewers and was the most-watched live-streamed poker game in history, according to PokerNews.

Hellmuth was accused of angle-shooting in a hand against an amateur when he appeared to fold his cards and was criticized on social media for the play. He finished down more than $96,000 for the session.

That was the most recent incident at the table involving Hellmuth. Last month at the $25,000 buy-in PokerGO Tour Heads-Up Showdown, Hellmuth traded obscenities with first-round opponent Eric Persson in a heated match. Persson, who flipped off Hellmuth at one point, went on to win.

Hellmuth, 57, is the all-time leader with 16 World Series of Poker tournament victories. He has more than $27 million in career live earnings, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database, and finished second to Erik Seidel at the $25,000 buy-in U.S. Poker Open in March.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.