Hellmuth Can't Put Dwan Down

When Phil Hellmuth lost a heads-up match to Tom Dwan, his aces cracked by tens, his parting shot was “we’ll see where you are in 10 years buddy!” We might not know exactly where Dwan is right now, but we do know that he has been been nicely funded by Hellmuth’s repeated losses to the younger pro.

Handing over his dollars as though they were confetti, Hellmuth’s reluctance to ever believe Dwan has a hand has even led to ‘Love Story’ compilations on YouTube chronicling his losses to the young upstart…

So, where did this all begin? Let’s take a look…

In the beginning … there were pocket pairs

It’s the 2008 National Heads-Up championship, and Hellmuth looked set to send Dwan packing early on when they got it all-in, Hellmuth holding the A♦ A♠ and Dwan the 10♥ 10♣

When the flop came…

2♠ K♥ 7♠

Things were looking even better for the PokerBrat, Dwan drawing to 2 outs…

But when the turn came

2♠ K♥ 7♠ (10♠)

everything changed. Now Hellmuth’s tournament life was hagning by a thread. Only an ace or a spade (and not the king) would save him. It wasn’t to be, however, and when the river fell

2♠ K♥ 7♠ 10♠ (9♦)

It sparked a typical Hellmuth show which would last to the present day. “When you look up ‘bad beat’ in the dictionary, that’s what you’ll find,” was the commentary room’s description.

“Son, I will tell you this much, I would never have put in more than three thousand with a pair of tens,” said Hellmuth, the commentators realising what was about to happen, stating, “Oh, here we go!”

Ouch! Rarely short of a reply, Hellmuth snarled back, “ You played the hand bad, that’s the truth,” leading to a rather unseemly end to the match, Dwan offering Hellmuth to “pick your stakes heads-up, we can play right now if you want”, while Hellmuth continued his ‘horrible play’ tirade:

Then came the classic Hellmuth line, one which he’d come to regret over the years no doubt. “ We’ll see if you’re even around in five years time,” before heading to the rails to describe his “beautiful play” to anyone who would listen.

Revenge is sweet

Be careful what you wish for, as my mother used to say on occasion, and perhaps Hellmuth took this advice to heart. As luck, or fate, would have it, Hellmuth had his chance to gain revenge on Dwan in the same event the following year. Could he overcome his nemesis?

“Do you think this is a little personal, Ollie?”, was the opening shot of the commentators. “Of course,” came his colleagues reply. “He was heartbroken and disappointed after last year, and he’s looking to exact a little revenge.”

And 2009 saw a completely different Hellmuth take to the table, an aggressive Philwho never gave Dwan a chance. Yes, he had good cards, but he played them powerfully, and ‘durrrr’ didn’t know how to respond.

Finally when Dwan thought he had spotted a glimpse of an escape, he found out that big Phil had him exactly where he wanted him…

The checked flop of J♦ 5♦ A♥ didn’t seem to beckon the start of a huge hand, Phil’s 9♠ 5♣ ahead of Dwan’s K♣ 9♣, but when the turn came

J♦ 5♦ A♥ (9♥)

things started to move. Durr bet out $4700 into the $6K pot and Phil hammed it up a bit before calling with his two pair. When the river fell…

J♦ 5♦ A♥ 9♥ (9♦)

The scene was set for a Phil Hellmuth revenge act. When Dwan bet out $12,800 the Pokerbrat didn’t pause long before setting the youngster all-in…and Dwan, unable to get away from his rivered trips, eventually called. Hellmuth clapped his hands, punched the air as he got up from the table, and enjoyed watching his new nemesis hit a cooler. It was obvious this victory meant a lot to Hellmuth!

And now it was one big hit apiece.

"Another fucking 2-outer!”

Just a few months later the two would clash again, as the players joined battle in Poker After Dark’s Railbird Heaven Cash Game 1, joined by the likes of Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Gus HansenandPatrik Antonius – a real who’s who of high-stakes cash poker.

With Hellmuth already stuck for a huge chunk of cash, he inevitably locked horns with Dwan once more…

On a flop of 4♠ 5♦ J♥ Phil – who had 7♥ 7♣ bet out $5000 into a $13,200 pot, getting rid of Ivey but seeing a call from Dwan, way behind with 6♥ 6♦.

The turn card

4♠ 5♦ J♥ (Q♥)

didn’t scare Phil, who again bet aggressively, this time $15K, once again being called by Dwan.

Being unable to shake off an opponent can lead to bad decisions later in the hand. Unable to work out what your opponent is holding – so often the case with Hellmuth versus the very unpredictable Dwan – makes life very tough. So when the river came…

4♠ 5♦ J♥ Q♥ (6♣)

Phil fell back to one of his standard plays with a middling hand – the blocking bet, a small $7000 into the $53K+ pot.

The problem with this is, of course, that Dwan knows Phil’s play very well – here he either has a small something or a big trapping hand… but Dwan now beats most of the big trapping hands, so he can bet big to make it look like a bluff!

Which he does, shoving an extra $52,000 into the middle and setting Phil a horrible problem to solve. Horrible only because Phil so badly wants to take Dwan down.

What’s the bluff?

Most reasonable-thinking players would figure Dwan has at least ‘something’ here – the 6 on the river filled a straight if Dwan had one of his little hands (23 or 78 for example) or he was always ahead with trip 4’s or 5’s, or he had hit his sixes as in the game, or even 10/J, 10/Q-type hands.

What could he have been playing to justify needing to bluff big on the river? He’d have to have been calling every street solely with the intention of making this play at the end.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, the kid’s playing every pot…” started Phil’s out-loud thinking process, “ he’s going to beat me…it’s like impossible” and right there we see the problem Phil has when facing Dwan. His own ego and a lack of respect for a very clever, if unorthodox, player in Dwan.

“If Phil manages to call this bet, and sees Dwan’s hand…everyone should take cover,” came the commentator’s very astute reading of the situation!

Odds and bets and folds

“What do you have ‘durrrr’!?” said Helmuth, just as Negreanu was asked his thoughts. Negreanu’s booking arrangement with Hellmuth meant that whatever Hellmuth lost in the game he’d also have to pay to Negreanu!

Hellmuth piped up in the middle of his tanking to add, “I think you might be bluffing this time buddy,” but eventually…somehow…managed to muck his cards and save himself $100,000!

When talk turned to Dwan’s holding, and he showed a six and then stated he had hit trips, Negreanu for one didn’t believe him – “I’ll bet you 10-1 he didn’t have sixes!” screeched the laughing Canadian, and this shows how tricky Dwan’s approach really is.

“Another fucking 2-outer…if he had them,” cried Hellmuth, and another nasty feeling in Phil’s gut that Dwan needed to be taken down.

Owning Hellmuth’s soul

The ‘love story’ seemed destined to crop up at least once every year, and the next season of Poker After Dark gave us one of the biggest pots, and worst plays, of Hellmuth’s ‘anti-Dwan’ vendetta.

The 100K cash game episode was going along quietly, when suddenly the two players started to make some plays.

Hellmuth, staring down at the mediocre 9♥ 7♠ decided to re-raise Eli Elezra from $1400 up to $5400, only to see Dwan decide his 10♥ J♥ was worth a little squeeze and $16,400.

With the pot at $34,300 the flop appeared…

10♦ Q♥ 7♦

giving each of them a little something, and Elezra decided to get out of the way. Dwan’s check was quickly checked behind by Hellmuth and the turn came…

10♦ Q♥ 7♦ (10♠)

giving Dwan his three tens. After quite some thought, the younger player decided betting out $27,600 was the best way to protect and also get some value from his hand. And Hellmuth very quickly called. The pot was $89,500 and as the booth point out:

The river fell…

10♦ Q♥ 7♦ 10♠ 5♠

And you could almost hear Dwan’s brain working out how best to fleece Hellmuth for his remaining stack. What goes through a top player’s mind when planning his move in such situations?

Well, Dwan would first check to see if he was definitely ahead. What could Hellmuth have which would have checked behind on the flop and quickly called the turn AND which could beat him?

Pocket sevens for a full house would be unlikely to check behind on the flop, so that only leaves pocket queens – which Hellmuth would usually play much more aggressively pre-flop, as he did in a big hand at the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

Betting for value

Dwan was almost certainly winning, so how to extract the most value from his hand? He knows, and we now know too, that Phil will rarely give Dwan credit for a big hand, or a better hand. He also knows that Phil wants to take him down badly.

So a big river bet only needs to work a few times make him more money in the long-run than a smaller bet would – and Phil Hellmuth is the perfect guy to pay him off.

Dwan’s decision to go all-in is excellent, putting Phil in that horrible spot once again where he desperately wants to beat Dwan, but only has a weak hand, but really doesn’t want to be bluffed out of the pot!

As the commentators stated:

“Good bet, kid, good bet!” said Hellmuth as he pondered his options, Dwan sitting poker-faced, his usual blank stare at the centre of the table –not quite an ‘Ivey’, but good enough. “This one could take a while,” was the commercial break lead-in – and it did.

Whisky in the tank

While Phil tanked, Gus Hansen joined hostess Leeann Tweeden for a quick chat, guessing Dwan’s play correctly but putting Phil on a much stronger holding than he actually had. “What would you do if you were Phil?” Tweeden asked the Dane.

But Hellmuth can’t wait for another day against Dwan. He never can because in his own estimation Dwan ‘won’t be around much longer’, and the kid owes Phil a lot of money from all the suck-outs – but Phil’s bad thinking leads to ruin!

“I’m gonna look like an idiot if I’m wrong, I’m gonna look like a genius if I’m right!” was big Phil’s analysis, before the fateful words, “I call!” escaped his lips.

“Nice hand buddy,” said Phil as Dwan turned his wining hand over, pausing for a minute of head-shaking before adding, “Jack-ten…I knew you started with nothing.”

Bete Noir..or bet red?

Everybody, in every sport, has a bete noir – that person or team who you simply cannot beat no matter what. You just have to accept it and move on. Don’t get involved with them and certainly don’t lose your mind over it the way Hellmuth has with Dwan over the years.

Of course, the selections above are just a few of the biggest and most important hands the two have played – there are literally thousands more, and Phil has almost certainly come out worse in their dogfight. Here’s an amusing one to finish which just goes to show that sometimes you just can’t win.

In the very first hand of the Premier League poker series, Hellmuth picks up J♥ 9♥ and sees a flop of…

10♥ A♦ A♥

When Dwan checks, Ohil bets 8k into the 14K pot on his flush draw, which Dwan only calls. We want to see the 8♥ come off here,” said the late Dave ‘Devilfish Ullliotin commentary, just as the turn comes…

10♥ A♦ A♥ (8♥)

Dwan checks again, and Hellmuth bets another 8K, making the pot 38K… which Dwan just calls. When the river falls…

10♥ A♦ A♥ 8♥ (5♦)

Phil bets his flush for 29K, only to be rocked back by Dwan’s all-in! Stunned, Hellmuth falls silent and goes into the tank…and when he emerges he finds a fold!

And it’s a great fold… As the viewers at home could see Dwan’s cards all along. He’d been dealt the A♠ 10♣ and had flopped the full house! Sometimes you just can’t win. More surprising, thugh, is that sometimes even Phil Hellmuth can reign in his ego long enough to cut his losses.

Whether these two poker greats will ever cross swords again remains to be seen, but the years of fighting on the felt have given us all great pleasure – all except Hellmuth that is!