Daniel Negreanu defeats Eric Persson for his first ever High Stakes duel win
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Daniel Negreanu was bowled over by Phil Hellmuth in the first ever High Stakes Duel match, going 0-3. The six times World Series of Poker the bracelet winner has finally won by PokerGO heads-up no-limit hold’em on Monday, when he defeated Eric Persson in round 1 of High Stakes Duel 4.
The match, which saw Negreanu and Persson each putting up $50,000 to enter, took place inside the PokerGO Studio in AIR Resort and casino in Las Vegas. Before the cards aired, Ali Nejad hosted The Weigh-In which saw Negreanu reveal a costume that mimicked Persson’s look during his infamous PokerGO Heads-Up Showdown stream debut last spring. Negreanu’s muscular blue shirt and giant hands that move like a bird were a reminder of when Persson defeated Hellmuth in a controversial first round match.
Negreanu had a mid-game wardrobe change, with the Poker Hall of Famer removing his costume to reveal more typical attire. The first half hour of action gives Negreanu a slight lead. After an hour of one-on-one battle, a big pot developed which saw Negreanu begin to retreat.
Negreanu hit the middle set with 5
5
while Persson is 4
2 who raised from the button improved to an open-ended straight draw on a J52 flop. Negreanu check-called a continuation bet and the turn brought the 2 to give Persson a pair and a low-flush draw to go with his outs to a straight. Negreanu checked again and Persson fired 5,000 into the pot of 8,800. Negreanu called again and on the 4 he completed the board, giving Persson two pair as he made a four to a straight on the board. The action checked, and Negreanu’s set took the pot. He finished at 63,200 while Persson fell to 36,800 after the hand.
Check out the hand below, with commentary from Nejad and three-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman.
A bad runout pays off
RealKidPoker</a> another big pot against <a href="https://twitter.com/IAmMaverick888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">IAmMaverick888.Persson flopped open-ended and turned over a flush draw against Negreanu’s set.
The river gave Persson a bad two pair and Negreanu increased his lead.
– Watch live here: pic.twitter.com/eWTy633lIW
—PokerGO (@PokerGO) May 9, 2023
Negreanu kept his lead for the next hour, then extended to win a big pot with pocket sevens after resisting a turn-bluffed raise from Persson. The action went check-checked on the river and Negreanu’s pocket pair gave him the pot and nearly a 4:1 chip lead.
Not long after, all the chips went all-in with Negreanu’s Ace
k led by the AQ of Person. Negreanu raised from the button then four-bet all-in against Persson’s three-bet. Persson called and the board ran out J107j6 and Negreanu’s AK high won him the game.
It was originally planned that Persson and Negreanu would face off a second time just one day after this first round match, but Persson later shared a video post on social media indicating that he was declining the rematch. Check out the Twitter post embedded below for his comments.
Congratulations on kicking my ass
RealKidPoker</a> . Look forward to playing with you in the future!! <a href="https://twitter.com/PokerGO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Poker GO @BuffaloHanks pic.twitter.com/eED3Okgz1x— Eric Persson (@IAmMaverick888) May 9, 2023
With Persson’s resignation, any potential challenger now has 30 days to step in and register the $100,000 buy-in for a round two match with Negreanu. The new contender will then square off against the Poekr Hall of Famer with $49.9 million in recorded tournament earnings for the $200,000 purse on a date to be determined.
Photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.
