Negreanu, Hellmuth, and Dwan back for National Heads-Up Championship

Posted on: May 1, 2026 12:33 PDT

The $25,000 National Heads-Up Poker Championship is back. On April 30, the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas welcomed a group of 64 poker players and celebrities for the kickoff matches in the Round of 64.

When the National Heads-Up Championship made its triumphant return in 2025, three of the game's biggest names – Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Tom Dwan – were nowhere to be found in the bracket.

This time around, all three are in the mix.

In the Round of 64, each has drawn a capable opponent. Negreanu takes on 2023 WPT World Championship winner Dan Sepiol while Hellmuth squares off against Josh Arieh.

Dwan, meanwhile, has to contend with the unpredictable Randy '3Coin' Sadler.

Hellmuth and Dwan have history in this competition. The two locked horns in the 2010 iteration of the event, leading to a classic Hellmuthian blow-up. After his aces were cracked by Dwan's pocket tens, Hellmuth berated his opponent – going as far as to question whether Dwan would still be playing poker in five years.

If the stars align, we might get a rematch of that infamous showdown.

Soverel back to defend title

Sam Soverel rose above the stacked field last year to become the first champion since Mike Matusow won the event back in 2013. Soverel, perhaps inadvertently, spoiled the result of the competition when he posted an image to social media that showed the trophy in the background – before the televised episodes had aired.

The Floridian faced a tough road to the final round, downing Jonathan Jaffe, Ryan Feldman, Nick Wright, Luiz 'Brazil God' Rizental, and Phil Galfond before defeating Keith Lehr 2-1 in the best of three Finals match.

Florida's own Sam Soverel won the 2025 National Heads-Up Championship for $500,000.

Hayley Hochstetler

This year, Soverel faces off against Kasey Lynn Mills in the Round of 64, the first hurdle en route to a title defense.

While past iterations of the event aired episodically on NBC, Peacock took over as the platform of choice last year – and that's where you can watch all the action when the show hits the airwaves this summer ahead of airing on PokerGO.

The coverage of the National Heads-Up Championship features commentary from Ali Nejad and Brent Hanks, as well as additional sideline reporting from Natalie Bode.

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