Michael Jordan challenged top poker player to high-stakes game and he 'stupidly declined'
Many fans know Michael Jordan has a passion for gambling and poker, but the six-time NBA champion decided to take it a step further as he attempted to go toe-to-toe with a poker great.
NBA icon Michael Jordan was renowned for his all-time competitiveness on the court - which perhaps led him to develop a passion for betting with his teammates and peers. However, poker legend Phil Hellmuth recently revealed how the Chicago Bulls great challenged him to a high-stakes game.
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Hellmuth dominated the World Series of Poker tournament during his career, winning 17 WSOP bracelets - seven more than any other player in history. He, like Jordan, possesses a competitive mind and has befriended the NBA legend over the years.
During a recent appearance on NESN’s Chicken Dinner Podcast with Sam Panayotovich, Hellmuth recalled Jordan’s challenge. He said: “MJ and I have hung out at a lot of different places, but we’ve never played poker. He challenged me once and I didn’t have a lot of money in town.”
He added: “I was stupid, I should’ve just called my friends (to stake me). But he would’ve wanted to play ’til seven in the morning and who knows at that point.”
Hellmuth and Jordan have never played heads-up in Texas Hold’em Poker, but he knows the six-time NBA champion’s favorite game: Badugi. This year marked the first time a Badugi tournament was held at the WSOP, with Michael Rodrigues becoming the first-ever Badugi bracelet winner.
Roridgues took home $144,678 after winning the $1,500 buy-in tournament ahead of a field of 516 players. Naturally, Hellmuth desperatedly wanted to win the inaugural Badugi WSOP bracelet - but he explained the game and why Jordan enjoys it so much.
“Michael likes to play badugi, which is a very fun game,” Helmuth said. “You’re dealt four cards and you want to have a club, a diamond, a heart or a spade. Ace, deuce, three, four (in four different suits) is the best possible hand. And [Jordan] wants to play no limit, so things can get really crazy.”
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The first-ever WSOP Badugi bracelet event was for a ‘limit’ tournament, yet Jordan prefers to play the no-limit version to ensure he can max out his potential winnings. Hellmuth continued: “If you have ace, deuce, three, but you don’t have the badugi and he doesn’t either, then the best three cards (win). So if you have ace, deuce, three, you’ve got to get the money in because you get three draws and ace, deuce, three will hold up a lot of times.
“But if he puts in with four, five, seven and he hits his card and you don’t, he wins the pot. It’s a swingy game and that’s what he likes to play.”
Ultimately, Hellmuth believes Jordan is as big a grinder on the felt as he was on the court back in the day: “He will grind you down, but I’m a little stronger. I’m not some 23-year-old playing his first session with MJ. I would give him an hour notice of course, which is reasonable and he would accept that. Then I would leave.”
