Poker Central is debuting the High Stakes Duel format and show which will pit poker pros in a head-to-head battle in 12-round competition. The event starts on July 30 and will be broadcast live from the PokerGO Studio at Aria Resort & Casino.
What’s Poker Central’s High Stakes Duel?
Poker Central has announced a new High Stakes Duel show which will debut on PokerGO, a service dedicated to professional and recreational poker. The show will be introduced on July 30 and feature the talents of Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari who will participate in a heads-up poker battle.
After introducing a number of interesting poker initiatives over the past few months, Poker Central is keeping up the entertainment level maxed out. Poker Central has been running through some World of Series of Poker footage as well as airing analyst panels and breaking down plays in poker.
With High Stakes Duel, the idea of the intiative is simple. Professionals are invited to play one-on-one in a new format that features several rounds. In the first round, two poker players will face off, covering the steep $50K buy-in.
Whoever loses has the right to call for a re-match, but the winner has no obligation to accept the challenge whatsoever. The winner then moves to the second round where the buy-in is $100K.
There are eight rounds in total and, every time, the prize pool will double until it hits the heady $12.8 million. However, the structure isn’t necessarily as simple as that. A player must win three straight games before reaching round six.
Alternatively, a player must win two games in a row starting in round five to secure the High Stakes Duel. If a winner has not been challenged within 30 days, they declare victory. The current format will allow players who want to go head-to-head to have some leeway to do just that.
Time and Date, High Stakes Duel’s Nigh
There are just few days on the clock before the High Stakes Duel kicks off. The event is scheduled for Thursday, July 30 and will start at 9 pm ET. The players will meet on the PokerGO Studio at Aria Resort & Casino and play the head-to-head game which will be broadcast live on PokerGO.
Both inaugural players have extensive experience in poker. Phil Hellmuth is worth at least $23 million and one of the richest players to ever to sit down at the green-felted tables in Las Vegas. Antonio Esfandiari is another well-seasoned veteran with close to ten years of experience himself.
Esfandiari has also cherished the idea of having a head-to-head game, arguing that he had been challenging Hellmuth for a head-to-head fight for years, and that is finally going to be the case.
“From the first time he came to my house as a young man and insisted we play heads-up – he won – to the time we played televised cash games together – he won – to the NBC Heads-Up Championship in 2005 – I won it all. Looking forward to this battle!”
Poker Central believes that the proposed format will be completely different from what poker aficionados are used to seeing and as such, it will be completely worth tuning in to witness this upcoming poker rivalry taken to a new level thanks to Poker Central and PokerGO.
