Phil Hellmuth Wins Landmark 17th WSOP Bracelet

Love him or hate him, there’s no doubting Phil Hellmuth’s ability to win bracelets. Not content with having the most bracelets by a mile, Phil has extended his lead over the rest of the field by winning his record-extending 17th bracelet, plus a little over $800,000 in winnings in the $10K Super Turbo Bounty Event.

Unlikely Event

Many of the accusations that have been levelled at Hellmuth in the past are that he’s not caught up to the modern game; he doesn’t understand GTO, and he doesn’t know how to optimally play short stacked poker. That’s why many were surprised that Hellmuth was able to seal his 17th bracelet in a Super Turbo Bounty event - an event that requires players to be incredibly sharp on their push/fold ranges and understand how bounties interact with those ranges.

Usually, Phil excels in the slower, large field events where he’s able to work his magic on the amateur players and use his unique style to his advantage. A Super Turbo event against some of the best players in the world isn’t the kind of event that many people would back Phil to be a winner, but he continues to prove all the haters wrong with his latest victory.

There’s no doubt that a little bit of luck helped him along the way; at one point Hellmuth was down to just 2bb going into a break. But, after that break, he was able to gain some momentum, and more importantly some chips, and use his expertise to navigate his way through a tough field - including Phil Ivey at the final table.

Can’t Stop Smiling

Phil was understandably elated when his full house beat the straight flush draw of Zaki, and he could be seen jumping around the table as the turn all but sealed his victory. At this point in Phil’s career, his primary motivation is no longer the money; he wants to seal himself as the best WSOP player in history by winning as many bracelets as he can. Many would argue that he’s already done that, but Phil won’t stop until he’s mined the WSOP for all the gold he can carry.

Phil, uncharacteristically, tried to play down his emotions in his interview, saying, “I'm feeling pretty good. I must have a smile just fixed to my face.” We imagine he was feeling a little better than pretty good based on his reaction to the turn card! In another uncharacteristic move, Phil has said that he’s been trying not to moan about his luck, “I tried not complain. Oh, I've been unlucky in key spots. F*** all that bulls*** you know, because things happen for a reason.”

Maybe he was feeling the love of a higher power guiding him to his 17th bracelet, as he felt that his bad luck in other events could all have happened for him to claim his redemption in this event. 

“You know maybe part of the reason I busted the Pot Limit Omaha was to come and win this. You know, maybe part of the reason I busted the deuce to seven was so I could get rest.”

Whether it was coincidence or fate that led to him playing this event, you can’t deny that Phil is clinical in WSOP events, and that he will surely go down as the greatest WSOP player of all time.

Event #72 $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold’em Final Table Results

Will Phil get to 20 WSOP bracelets by the time he retires? Will anyone ever surpass Phil’s WSOP bracelet total? Stay tuned for all the latest WSOP news and events.

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