When the nine men comprising the final table of Event #15, the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament, came to the felt on Monday afternoon they would have had no illusions as to the focus of the watching poker world.
It was a clear case of all eyes on Phil Hellmuth, aka “the Poker Brat”, as he entered the last leg of his quest for a record breaking 11th WSOP bracelet.
Hellmuth started the final table in a great position; his $1.48 million chips putting him in second position behind Rick Fuller and the 1989 WSOP Champion was clearly in a good mood. His opponents should perhaps have sensed the inevitable.
Hellmuth certainly did, and he got stuck in right from the off. Such was Hellmuth’s dominance that he had a 4:1 chip lead when there were still three other players left, and although Andy Philacheck scored a big pot when he knocked out Morgan Machina, he proved no match for Hellmuth in the heads-up battle.
Hellmuth, with history beckoning, simply crushed his less experienced opponent, forcing him to resort to all-in preflop play to stand any chance at all. In the event, overbetting his hands preflop did not do Philacheck much good either, and before he knew what was happening he was facing a 6:1 chip defecit.
Hellmuth is not the kind of player to let such a chip advantage slip, even against a better player than Philacheck, so there it was no surprise when he mopped up the remainder of Philacheck’s chips. Hellmuth might have seen the irony however, when the hand that won him his long-coveted record-breaking 11th bracelet involved him handing out a bad beat to his opponent. Unsurprisingly there was no winging from the Poker Brat when he caught a 3 on the flop when all-in with A-3 versus Philacheck’s A-T.
On hand to present Hellmuth’s bracelet were Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson, the two men he has been battling with for all these year’s for WSOP bragging rights. It was a touching moment, which brought a rare humbleness to the normally brash Hellmuth as he contemplated his achievement.
It is true that Hellmuth plays far more events that either Brunson or Chan, but this should not dent the magnitude of his achievement, nor would Brunson or Chan hold it against him. It has been a magnificent effort by Hellmuth, and his desire to be the best should be highly commended. Despite his often embarrassing behaviour, Hellmuth has without doubt been an asset to the world of poker. Congratulations Phil, you deserve it!