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.

• Daniel Negreanu Twitter
• Daniel Negreanu Vs Doug Polk
• Doug Polk Vs Daniel Negreanu
• Negreanu Daniel Wife
• Daniel Negreanu Net Worth
• Daniel Negreanu Recent Highlights

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.

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.

Total life earnings: $42,053,305. Latest cash: $14,890 on 13-Dec-2020. Click here to see the details of Daniel Negreanu's 355 cashes. Daniel Negreanu was born to Annie and Constantin on July 26th, 1974 in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Daniel’s parents moved to Canada after leaving Romania in hopes of giving their children better lives. At the age of sixteen, Daniel discovered an affinity for gambling, pool hustling, and poker. These games, combined with his love for numbers.

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

— 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.

Daniel Negreanu Twitter

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

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

— 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.

Table Of Contents

The grudge has been put to rest, both on the felt and off the felt it seems, between Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu.

On the felt, the result was firm and resounding: Polk proved the superior performer in their $200/$400 heads-up match. Across 25,000 hands that spanned 36 sessions and three months, Polk beat his rival out of $1,201,807.

That left him with an impressive win rate of 12 BB/100, the envy of nearly any professional at any stakes, much less some of the highest in the world.

Off the felt, the two 'buried the hatchet' in Polk's own words, linking up for a study session before finishing out the match. Negreanu said they shared war stories and Polk called him a worthy opponent, so it seems the rancor between the two top players has been put to bed after years of feuding.

Polk Finishes With a Flourish

After some initial stumbles that saw Negreanu trade off the lead a few times, Polk took command of the match around the 5,000-hand mark and pretty much never looked back.

Daniel Negreanu Vs Doug Polk

Negreanu looked for a second like he might battle back as he twice reduced $1 million in losses to a number about half that.

However, it simply wouldn't sustain. Each time, Polk pulled back ahead, even after Negreanu booked a monster win of nearly $400,000 in a single session.

Doug Polk Vs Daniel Negreanu

By the time the marathon final sessions went down, with Negreanu pushing hard and looking to play deep-stacked poker as a final Hail Mary, no real drama remained. Polk had secured victory, the only real question being where his final windfall would land.

Back-to-back wins north of $200K would see him finish in emphatic fashion. The final tally of $1.2 million represented his peak win after any session of the entire match, so Polk couldn't have asked for a better closing stretch.

Negreanu Daniel Wife

In fact, a relaxed Polk, no longer on his guard about protecting his trade secrets, streamed the final session with cards up.

Where to From Here?

It's hard to say the final result was anything other than the expected outcome. One could debate whether the total win was above or below expectation, but the betting market had installed Polk as roughly a 4-to-1 favorite in advance of the match, no surprise given his vast experience edge in the heads-up format.

Daniel Negreanu Net Worth

As for each player's next step, PokerNews may take a more thorough look in the coming days and weeks, but Polk made his wishes clear: he wants to return to semi-retirement and a rematch is out of the question.

Whether this particular retirement has more staying power remains to be seen.

Negreanu, as an active GGPoker, likely has no such desire. Having acquired considerable heads-up skills in his recent endeavors, though, there's been talk of more showcase matches, with Phil Galfondfloated as a possible opponent while he awaits his next pot-limit Omaha challengers.

Daniel Negreanu Recent Highlights

In any case, the book seems closed on perhaps the most high-profile feud in the game. Teeth and sausage are presumably intact but the price has been paid: Doug Polk is more than $1.2 million richer.

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