PokerGo / Antonio Abrego
- Poker pro Phil Hellmuth hits a straight flush on the turn while playing heads-up against fellow pro Tom Dwan
- Hellmuth would eventually go on to win this heads-up match against Dwan that was worth $400,000 cash
- Read more POKER stories here
In this heads-up High Stakes Duel match between poker pros Tom Dwan and Phil Hellmuth, The Poker Brat manages to hit one of the rarest hands in all of poker. This footage offers some keen insight into how professional poker players are able to maintain their composure despite sitting on a hand so rare that you might only see it a handful of times in life.
This hand took place in Round 3 of PokerGo’s High Stakes Duel matchup between Phil Hellmuth and Tom Dwan. Going into Round 3, Tom Dwan had won Round 1 for $100,000 and Hellmuth took Round 2. So there was a lot riding on the line here in the tie-breaker matchup. Also, it was a $200K cash buy-in for each player and the winner walked away with $400,000 in winnings.
If you’re an avid reader of BroBible articles, you might’ve seen this footage from back in January from this heads-up match. Phil Hellmuth makes one of the best folds you’ll ever see. Now we’re circling back for another clip and this time The Poker Brat hits a straight flush, the second rarest hand in all of poker.
Phil Hellmuth Hits Straight Flush Playing Heads-Up Against Tom Dwan
I’ve hit a Straight Flush three times in my life. Twice online and once in person. Every time, my hands were shaking. Phil Hellmuth was as cool as a cucumber there. Just another day at the office for him.
How Rare Is A Straight Flush In Poker?
The Straight Flush is the second rarest hand that you can hit in poker, behind a Royal Flush. There are only 9 ways you can hit a Straight Flush (A2345, 23456, 34567, etc) until you get to a Royal Flush. And since there are four suits in a deck of cards that means there are 36 possible ways to hit a straight flush in poker (with 5 cards).
Someone like Phil Hellmuth plays thousands upon thousands of hands every year and his likelihood of seeing or hitting a Straight Flush is SIGNIFICANTLY higher than mine. The odds of hitting a Straight Flush are 72,192.33 to 1. And the probability of hitting a Straight Flush is 0.00139%.
If that doesn’t sound rare enough for you, consider how many card combinations there are in a deck of cards. It’s truly astronomical how many card combinations there can be in a properly shuffled deck. You can find a full explanation of the math right here, but the answer is: 52!
To grasp how big of a number 52! is, consider this quote from Yannay Khaikin: “Any time you pick up a well-shuffled deck, you are almost certainly holding an arrangement of cards that has never before existed and might not exist again.”
Will There Be A Phil Hellmuth vs Tom Dwan Round 4?
After Phil Hellmuth won Round 3, he told Tom “I know you’re rematching…this time for $800K” and Dwan replied, “Yea, it’ll be a big one.” PokerGO’s High Stakes Duel Round 4 between Phil Hellmuth and Tom Dwan confirmed? It’s not 100% but it seems likely. You can check out Rounds 1 and 2 over on the PokerGO YouTube channel as well.
I was fortunate enough to interview Phil Hellmuth during the 2021 World Series of Poker just before the Main Event. He was on one of the biggest heaters of his life. We talked about his legacy, success, how he stays fresh, feuds with other poker players, and more.
You can check out my Phil Hellmuth interview here.