Phil Hellmuth has regained the lead in his latest heads-up battle, winning round 3 of his contest with Tom Dwan and taking down the $400,000 prize pool.

“The next match is for $800,000,” Hellmuth said afterwards, “If I lose, I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to pony up $800,000 to play again, but I bet he will.” 

“I know you’re rematching,” Hellmuth said to Dwan as he scooped the final pot. “This time for $800k.”

The concluding hand of the marathon match saw Hellmuth limp into the pot. Dwan raised in the Big Blind with 8h8s. Hellmuth came over the top for a huge shove and Dwan called the all-in with a massive 64bb stack still to play with. 

Hellmuth tabled A♣K♠ and they were in for a huge flip, with the K♦5♦2♥ flop quickly tipping things in Hellmuth’s favour. The turn and river ran out a harmless 6♥, 6♦ to seal the win for Phil. 

Dwan was quick to confirm his willingness to play round 4 shortly after the event.

“It feels good,” raved Hellmuth, “Tom is just one of the greatest players in the world. I like to use the term “natural-born hold’em player.” I think there are about 10 natural-born Hold’em players in the world. I’m one of the 10, for sure.”.

Image courtesy of PokerGO.com