Scott Seiver will fill in for Tom Dwan after Dwan pulled out of the fourth round of High Stakes Duel III against Phil Hellmuth. Dwan and Hellmuth were scheduled to play a rubber match on May 17 after they each won a round, but with Dwan out, Scott Seiver stepped in to battle Hellmuth with each player brining $400,000 to the table and the winner banking $800,000. Seiver and Hellmuth will joust tonight on PokerGo.
The show must go on! That's one of the primary mantras of show business. High Stakes Duel III was slated to play out its fourth round on May 17 at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas, but one of the participants had to back out at the last minute. Tom Dwan will not play Phil Hellmuth in High Stakes Duel III Round 4, but the good news is that Scott Seiver is ready to go. The American pro is fired up and ready to take on the Poker Brat.
High Stakes Duel III Round 4 will begins at 5pm PT and streamed exclusively on PokerGo.
"This program has been a must-watch event each episode so far and I wanted an opportunity to be a part of the action and hopefully add my own mark on it," said Seiver.
Despite being a part of the younger generation of players that cut their teeth on the online waters, Seiver has a lot respect for Hellmuth.
"It is impossible to not respect Phil Hellmuth's poker game because the results speak for themselves, however, where his talent lies is probably most misunderstood by the general public as opposed to those with a more nuanced view."
Seiver understands there's multiple layers to the Poker Brat. It's like peeling back an onion.
"His game is speech play, but he is one of the best in the world at it," added Seiver. "There will be trash talk before and during 100%,” Seiver said.
For High Stakes Duel III, Hellmuth beat Nick Wright in Round 1. Wright decline a rematch, but Tom Dwan stepped in to play Round 2. Dwan ended Hellmuth's 7-0 run after he swept Antonio Esfandiari in HSD I, then swept Daniel Negreanu in HSD II.
Dwan and Hellmuth battled in a rematch in HSD II Round 3, which Hellmuth won. The two were schedule for a third rubber match on may 12 until Dwan pulled out. That's when Seiver stepped in as the last-second replacement with the heads-up battle pushed back until May 17.
The rules of High Stakes Duel says the stakes double in value with each round and it does not end until someone wins three matches in a row prior to the first four rounds, or with back-to-back wins after Round #4, or they reach Round #8 where the stakes will be worth $12.8 million.
With Seiver in the mix, there will be at least an additional round or Round #5 in High Stakes Duel III with each player forking over $800K and the two playing for $1.6 million. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, because HSD III Round 4 has yet to begin.
