Daniel Negreanu vs Phil Hellmuth live challenge

In a live heads-up highstakes duel later this month(March 16th), Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth will face off, and the bookies have DNegs as the clear favorite to beat his old friend.

Negreanu is now at 1.61 in PokerShares, which is -164 in the US system and around 2/3 in UK betting figures, implying that DNegs has a 60 percent chance of winning. Meanwhile, Hellmuth is 2.45 (145 or 3/2, or about 40% chance of winning).

Negreanu's newfound talent in heads-up poker has swayed the betting markets in his favor, mostly because of a $1.2 million lesson from Doug Polk in their epic Grudge Match. 

The highly awaited showdown with the Poker Brat, on the other hand, will be a much shorter than the Negreanu-Polk 25k-hands, two-table online fight, and Helmuth has already shown his prowess in shorter, live heads-up matches.

In the opening bouts of Highstakes Duel, Hellmuth spanked Antonio Esfandiari three times, earning a total of $350,000 from ‘The Magician'.

What will the game be between Hellmuth and Negreanu?

Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu will play No Limit Hold'em. The format will vary significantly from Negreanu vs Polk, which will instead take the shape of other High Stakes Duel matches, in which players buy-in for a fixed amount for each round.

Is there a wager on the match between Negreanu and Hellmuth?

Negreanu said he had bet a huge sum on himself at -150 during an interview with the No Gamble, No Future Podcast.

The rules:

• Each player must put up $50,000 for a total prize pool of $100,000 in Round 1.
• Within three days of the lost match, losers can play the next round by matching the outstanding prize pool.
• Losing players still get the first opportunity to appeal, but they can only do so three times in a duel game.
• New players can submit a challenge if a loser declines. The winner can cash out if no challenger steps forward within 30 days.
• After three consecutive wins, players can cash out if he is on a winning streak during Rounds 1 - 3.
• Players will cash out after two straight wins in round 4 or later.