Round 1 of the High Stakes Duel was breathtaking enough when Phil Hellmuth defeated Esfandiari in a $100,000 heads-up duel. Now it is being taken to a dizzy plane as these two poker legends face each other in Round 2 with the stake doubled to an incredible $200,000.
For the uninitiated, High Stakes Duel is the latest in PokerGO’s original series. It starts with each player pooling in $50,000 buy-in. This is Round 1. The winner advances to the next round with the first option going to the loser to post the challenge. If the loser does not want to take it up, the challenger’s seat is open for 30 days for others to step in. After every round, the stakes will be doubled until Round 8, by which time the prize pool will have reached a staggering $12.8 million.
In the latest duel, Esfandiari lost to Hellmuth but did not waste time in challenging the winner for a rematch in Round 2. After a two-month break, the two players are back again to the PokerGO studio to resume their High Stakes Duel battle.
Esfandiari, the first Round loser, is on a high though. When asked how he feels about taking up the challenge in Round 2, he sounded optimistic about his chances this time around. “Great. Fabulous. Fantastic. Ready to tie it up and see if he challenges me for Round 3.” That means that Esfandiari is betting on himself to win this round!
Nick Schulman will be hosting the second round and the preview show on Tuesday night. The game experience is back again as the innuendoes, and the fun promises to flare up again.
