"One of the most painful moments of my life" - NBA analyst Nick Wright rues $50,000 loss to 17× World Series of Poker winner

Most sports fans know Nick Wright as a top-notch basketball and football analyst who has a deep knowledge of the NBA and NFL. What many fans may not know is that Wright is also an avid poker player and has gone toe-to-toe with some of the poker world's greatest minds.

Bad beat stories in are a dime a dozen in the poker world, but Nick Wright's worst beat came at the hands of arguably the greatest ever Texas hold 'em tournament player on the planet.

During a talk with Front Office Sports that was published on Monday, the NBA analyst recently shared a fascinating story of his heads up matchup against 17-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.

"He unintentionally slow-rolled me in one of the most painful moments of my life," Wright said.

For fans who are not familiar with the game of poker, a "slow-roll" is when an opponent takes a lengthy amount of time to call a bet, usually giving the initial better a false sense of hope that he has the best hand. That is exactly what happened to Wright on this occasion.

Heads up poker is a one-on-one match and requires intense discipline. Hellmuth is considered one of the best at the format, and was coming off big wins against fellow poker legends Daniel Negreanu and Antonio Esfandiari.

Yet the First Things First host was keen to try his luck against the "Poker Brat," putting up the $50,000 it would cost to challenge Hellmuth.

In the final hand, Wright was very strong, betting all his chips with a flush. Unfortunately for him, he came up against a better flush:

"The reason it was so painful was because I went all in and for 99% of players his hand is an instant snap-call. But when he hesitated—and didn’t just hesitate, but took two minutes—I was convinced I was ahead. So I was sitting there thinking, 'Please call. Please call. Please call.'"

The battle with Hellmuth took place in 2021 and lasted six hours. Following the bad beat, Hellmuth took the analyst out to dinner. There is no shame in loosing to one of the all-time greats, and Nick Wright, who still plays poker, will use the experience as a learning lesson.

NBA analyst Nick Wright names Phil Hellmuth as the "Patrick Mahomes" of the World Series of Poker tournament

Poker player Phil Hellmuth, NBA analyst Nick Wright. Photo Credits: Imagn, Nick Wright's X account

NBA analyst Nick wright is regularly seen on poker television shows and at live tournaments. Last year, the well known Kansas City Chiefs fan was spotted at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Wright was asked who he believed the "Patrick Mahomes" of the WSOP would be named Phil Hellmuth as his answer:

"Phil is without question the Patrick Mahomes or the G.O.A.T. or whatever, of the World Series of Poker."

No card player in the world has won as many WSOP bracelets as Hellmuth, who has 17 bracelets to his name. The next in line is Phil Ivey with 11 bracelets. Hellmuth has also cashed in a whopping 216 events at the competition.