Match Poker is a way of playing poker, developed by the International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP), designed to offer poker as an official world sport. To meet the definition of “sport”, Match Poker has been designed so that a large part of the luck inherent in poker is removed.
- The game of poker is a card game played among two or more players for several rounds. There are several varieties of the game, but they all tend to have these aspects in common: The game begins with each player putting down money allocated for betting.
- In games where a player has more than five cards and selects five to form a poker hand, the remaining cards do not play any part in the ranking. Poker ranks are always based on five cards only, and if these cards are equal the hands are equal, irrespective of the ranks of any unused cards.
- All In Match Up Odds. The table below shows the odds of each hand winning in typical all-in match ups in Texas Holdem.The percentage chance of winning assumes that both players are all-in and that all 5 community cards will be dealt to determine a winner.
- In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win.In low games, like razz, the lowest-ranking hands win.
In Match Poker, you will play the same cards, in the same position, and with the same flop, turn and river, as the players you’re being compared with. So your play is judged not on how much you won or lost on a hand, but by comparing your play with that of every other player who played those same cards.
As a result of this innovation, Match Poker has been provisionally accepted by the governing body of world sport, GAISF, as the 7th world mind sport – alongside Chess and Bridge etc.
Watch poker videos, TV shows & documentaries on PokerTube. With over 20,000 Poker related movies like High Stakes Poker, PokerTube is the world's largest site to watch anything about poker.
Click here to learn more about how Match Poker works!
Match Poker is a way of playing poker, developed by the International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP), designed to offer poker as an official world sport. To meet the definition of “sport”, Match Poker has been designed so that a large part of the luck inherent in poker is removed.
In Match Poker, you will play the same cards, in the same position, and with the same flop, turn and river, as the players you’re being
compared with. So your play is judged not on how much you won or lost on a hand, but by comparing your play with that of every other player who played those same cards.
As a result of this innovation, Match Poker has been provisionally accepted by the governing body of world sport, GAISF, as the 7th world mind sport – alongside Chess and Bridge etc.
Click here to learn more about how Match Poker works!
- Be able to measure yourself against your peers, your friends, and even against famous players
- Play tournaments that will qualify you to play at major championship events
Doug Polk Daniel Negreanu Match
- Have a lot of fun!
The biggest prize we offer is the ability to represent your country, state, region, gender, or age-group in major national and international events!
Our promise to you is that regular play on matchpoker.com should improve your game and help you become a very competent poker player.
We want MatchPoker.com to become:
The best site in the world for rating the skill level of poker players,
The “go-to” site for improving your poker,
The world’s largest community of poker players,
The most active community in poker skill and in the sport of poker, and
The only online site which allows you to officially represent your country in the sport of poker (potentially, one day, as an Olympian).
The best site in the world for rating the skill level of poker players,
The “go-to” site for improving your poker,
The world’s largest community of poker players,
The most active community in poker skill and in the sport of poker, and
The only online site which allows you to officially represent your country in the sport of poker (potentially, one day, as an Olympian).
We are very excited to announce the upcoming beta release of our app. This will give you an early look into the digital playing platform of Match Poker Online™.
Please sign up to the Beta to get your first look at a poker platform that will truly revolutionise our wonderful game.
After battling Doug Polk online for three months at WSOP.com, Daniel Negreanu is now heading back to the heads-up poker tables. He’ll be squaring off against a familiar name – 15-time World Series of Poker champion Phil Hellmuth.
On Tuesday, the two poker pros finalized a March 16 meeting on PokerGO’s High Stakes Duel. The showdown brings together two of the biggest names in poker.
Hellmuth and Negreanu officially announced the matchup on PokerGO’sNo Gamble, No Future podcast.
War of words kicks off the duel
There should be plenty of fireworks when the two square off from the PokerGO Studio at Aria. The event has been in the works after some Twitter banter following the Negreanu-Polk matchup.
Math Behind Poker
The High Stakes Duel format sees the two players battle heads-up for $50,000 each. The loser then has the option for a rematch at a $100,000 match.
Hellmuth has done well on the show so far. He’s battled Antonio Esfandiari three times and won every match.
Negreanu has declared himself a 2 to 2.5 to 1 favorite and has already bet a “significant amount” on himself. However, he was complimentary of Hellmuth’s heads-up game.
“I think you’re great at heads-up poker,” he told Hellmuth. “A lot of the things you do against the players you’ve played against, specifically Antonio, actually destroys them.”
That included exploiting flawed strategy by Esfandiari, Negreanu noted. He considers Hellmuth one of the best exploitative players in the game, especially against GTO players.
His argument is that Hellmuth does well against more theory-based strategy players. That shouldn’t be a problem for Negreanu, or at least that’s what he’s hoping.
“For me, I feel like a bad matchup for you,” Negreanu noted. “A bad matchup because of what I’ll be willing to do.”
Poker Brat confident in his skills
Helmuth feels he’s played great in the heads-up format. He also has some major wins over players like Polk, Dan Cates, and Esfandiari.
“I get underestimated a lot,” Hellmuth told Negreanu. “All I do is keep winning. It’s really weird to me how you and other people keep underestimating me. It’s fine because I really think you guys honestly don’t understand what I do.”
If the podcast appearance was an indication, the heads-up matchup should be pretty fun. Negreanu and Hellmuth sparred quite a bit with plenty of trash talk.
Negreanu argues that Hellmuth would lose against heads-up poker specialists in a more drawn-out series like he played against Polk. Hellmuth doesn’t underestimate Negreanu and considers him “one of the great players in poker history.” He also said Negreanu has had some excellent coaches.
The recent heads-up series has given Negreanu some significant heads-up poker chops. However, Hellmuth feels good about his chances.
“Have I studied anything at all over the last two or three months?” he said on No Gamble, No Future. “No, I already know what I’m going to do. It’s worked for me … against everybody I play. So I trust my instincts and I trust my reads.”
Those instincts should pay off, he believes. Hellmuth said if he can make two great folds and three great calls, he can win these types of matches. Here’s a look at the details of the High Stakes Duel:
- Game: Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em
- Location: PokerGO Studio at Aria, Las Vegas
- Stakes: $50,000 match
- Streaming: PokerGO
- Date and time. March 16, 8 pm (ET)
- Specifics: Played in a heads-up, sit and go style. The High Stakes Duel allows losing players to rematch for twice the original amount.
Tale of the tape
So how do these players stack up against each other? Both spoke briefly this week with USPoker about their chances going in. The event should attract plenty of interest among poker fans.
Phil Hellmuth
Discounting Hellmuth’s skills in heads-up poker might be a bad idea. Behind the bravado is a great player. With so many titles, Hellmuth has plenty of heads-up poker experience and regularly closes the show.
He describes himself as a counter puncher and feels his style works well in the heads-up game. That includes constantly adjusting and attacking when needed as well.
The detractors certainly motivate Hellmuth and he said as much Tuesday on No Gamble, No Future. Esfandiari had also declared himself a favorite as well, however came out on the short end. Hellmuth remains firm in his skills, especially in a live setting.
“I have zero analysts and zero team,” he told USPoker. “I might watch some sessions of him live to see if I can spot any tells.”
Here’s a look at the Poker Brat’s statistics:
- Live tournament winnings: $24.6 million
- WSOP titles and winnings: 15 bracelet, $15.1 million
- WPT titles and winnings: 0 titles, 5 final tables, $1.6 million
- Intangibles: Hellmuth has excellent instincts and fares well in the live format. He seems to thrive when in the underdog role and has a record of success.
“Daniel says he is a big favorite,” Hellmuth said. “I have won roughly 18 out of 20 of my last heads-up matches. Antonio said he was a big favorite over me, but I beat him three times in a row.
“I also beat Doug Polk and Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates in live heads-up matches, who the kids said were the two best in the world at the time. What am I, chopped liver?”
Daniel Negreanu
Unlike the series with Polk, Negreanu doesn’t plan on as much preparation for a single event. He’ll ditch the coaching and plans on using a “basic fundamental strategy that I think is effective against Phil.”
Negreanu loves the High Stakes Duel format and thinks he’s perceptive enough to uncover Hellmuth’s weak spots. Against Polk, he employed solvers and a complete strategy team After studying so much over the last few months, Negreanu has been playing at an advanced level.
Texas Hold'em Poker Matches
That’s a notion even Polk agreed with. He battled Negreanu for 25,000 hands and won $1.2 million. Polk believes Negreanu improved, learned a lot, and would beat most players heads-up. That includes beating Hellmuth in this match.
Phil Ivey Poker Matches
Some in the poker industry initially listed Negreanu as the favorite in the -150 to -160 range. Hellmuth has been in the +125 to +145 range. Here’s a complete look at Kid Poker’s statistics:
- Live tournament winnings: $42.1 million
- WSOP titles and winnings: 6 bracelets, $19.6 million
- WPT titles and winnings: 2 titles, 9 final tables, $6.4 million
- Intangibles: Negreanu has excellent reads and now has extensive knowledge at playing heads-up. Losing to Polk over 25,000 hands gave him even more insight into the game.
“Outside of maybe Fedor Holz, I don’t think there is a worse matchup in the world for him,” Negreanu told USPoker. “I’ve played with him for decades and my game matches up very well against him.”
* Lead image courtesy PokerGO
* Hellmuth and Negreanu photos courtesy World Poker Tour