An epic $3,000,000 Heads-Up Match between online crusher Wiktor “limitless” Malinowski and Mj Gonzales has just been confirmed! It will take place live in Las Vegas this year – with the loser facing a costly and embarrassing tattoo appointment!
It’s on!! Hoc Est Bellum https://t.co/SRiUwEmoNt
— Mj Gonzales (@therealmjpoker) August 18, 2020
There is a lot on the line
‘This is war!’ reads Gonzales’ Latin, and it is exactly what Malinowski has been looking for recently.
Wiktor Malinowski is a Polish former handball professional who turned to poker and went from freerolls to the highest stakes within just 5 years.
He explained his approach to the Joe Ingram podcast. Malinowski is ready to take on all-comers and to play Fedor ‘CrownUpGuy’ Holz drunk, but showing a bit more respect for Linus ‘LlinusLlove’ Loeliger.
Warning: NSFW Bad Language
This is the first time I've heard something like this lol
Limitless talked about how he is offering to play against people drunk so that they will give him action in the high stakes games.
Maybe @CrownUpGuy will take him up on his offer to play pic.twitter.com/v8WUgwhCJs
— Joey Ingram 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽 (@Joeingram1) August 11, 2020
Gonzales, himself a cash game monster, was quick to pick Malinowski up on his offer.
I’ll play, live.. as high as he wants. Any casino in Vegas. Don’t care if he drinks or not. Loser has to get the $ amount lost tattooed on them. Seems fun..
— Mj Gonzales (@therealmjpoker) August 11, 2020
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The stakes of $1k/$2k at No-Limit Hold’em are among the highest ever seen for a heads-up match.
Not that Malinowski is likely to be phased by the stakes, the Polish star winning the biggest pot ever seen in online NLHE just last week – a cool $842,438 from Michael Addamo…
Michael Addamo on the receiving end of this cooler from Wiktor Malinowski for a $900K pot at our VIP Games#coolerbro#natural8 pic.twitter.com/gq8u8SQxDY
— N8 Best Online Poker & Casino Promotions #GGPoker (@natural8) August 11, 2020
Although there is no word yet as exactly where or when the $3million Freezeout match will take place, the hope is that someone will pick up on the opportunity to let the poker community watch.
Previous matches of this size have made their way into poker folklore.
Andy Beal, a Texan billionaire businessman, took on the world’s best players in a long series of matches at the Bellagio.
After taking $10million from a group that included Chip Reese, Ted Forrest, Jennifer Harman, and Todd Brunson, Beal would return and lose $16million, much of it to the Corporation’s new star player, Phil Ivey.
The incredible story was told in Michael Craig’s book, ‘The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time’.
Further Heads-up Battles
Vegas also hosted a more recent but just as famous, or perhaps infamous, heads-up battle, between Kings Casino boss Leon ‘Loose Leon’ Tsoukernik and Aussie crypto-multimillionaire Matt Kirk.
That late-night battle saw a drunken Tsoukernik borrow and lose $3million from Kirk, refusing to repay $2million of it. The Czech later claimed in a lawsuit that he had been ‘taken advantage of’ by Kirk and the Aria.
The duo eventually settled their grievances out of court and have since shared many high stakes battles on the felt.
And of course, the recently agreed Grudge Match 4 Rollz between Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk deserves a mention, although that has been slated to be played online.
The poker world may be in an uncertain time just now, but it’s certainly not struggling to entertain the fans.
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