Jonathan Little Breaks Down High Stakes Duel – Can Hellmuth Get Paid by Negreanu?

Phil HellmuthThis hand between Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth in Round 1 of their High Stakes Duel II match was a great one to analyze due to the number of interesting decision points from both players.

I decided to get out the PIO solver for this one and use some node locking on Hellmuth’s strategy to see what differences that would make to how Negreanu should approach the hand. When Hellmuth’s hand turns into a very strong made hand by the river can he find a way to get paid? Let’s dive into it.

With the blinds at 500/1,000, Hellmuth (48,500) limped with the . The solver limps 54 percent of the time with Hellmuth’s hand, and when you do, you should do it with the intention of calling a…