Phil Hellmuth in Search of WSOP Bracelet No. 15: “I’m Not Going To Blow This”
Phil Hellmuth, the most decorated player in the history of the World Series of Poker, bagged up a top-six stack heading into the third day of play in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em, and he's determined to take it down.
Hellmuth won his most recent bracelet — bracelet No. 14 — less than 20 days ago in the $10,000 Razz Championship, but his last no-limit hold'em bracelet dates back to 2012 when he won the WSOP Europe Main Event for €1,022,376.
The "Poker Brat" has three cashes at this year's WSOP already, but none come in the form of poker he has 12 bracelets in.
"It feels really good to get my first hold'em cash," Helmuth told PokerNews after bagging up at the end of Day 2. "I've been playing hold'em really good."
There was a stretch of 10 days during the WSOP where Hellmuth went from event to event, making deep runs in non-hold'em events. However, the big hands he did play in his most successful format still stick with him, and today he stepped up.
"Twice [this summer] I could've made great calls, and one time Barry Hutter made a nice move on me," he said. "I had ace-eight, and it came ace high and I decided to call him down. He barreled every street and moved in. I studied for two minutes and folded. My instincts were going crazy, and then he showed a bluff."
That wasn't the only time he got bluffed, though.
"They made another nice bluff against me in the six-max, but today I manned up and made a great call," Hellmuth added. "I had king-queen, and it turned out the button had ace-queen, and he raised. I called from the small blind and the big blind reraised. I knew something was wrong there, I knew he didn't have it. The ace-queen somehow folded, and I called. It came king-nine-deuce, with two clubs. I check, he bet 7,500, I made it 20,000, and he called. The turn was the ace of clubs and everything hit. I checked, and he moved in for 35,000. I had 39,000 left, and you know what, I thought he had king-jack or worse. I called, and he had jack-nine, so he still had five outs, neither one of us had a club, so I made the great call."
This big call vaulted Hellmuth's confidence into the place where it usually is, and from that point he ran up a big stack.
"From there, it seems like it's working, and I'm trusting my instincts," he added. "I did something weird today. Someone raised and I folded ace-jack for one bet before the flop. My instincts were going crazy and he said he had ace-king. I did that once on May 28, because when you fold ace-jack in no-limit hold'em for one bet, then you know something."
Thursday will be Day 3 of the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em event, and it will be a huge day for Hellmuth. The 14-time gold bracelet winner is guaranteed $11,660 right now with 41 players remaining, but the $551,941 first-place prize and his 15th piece of jewelry are hanging right there.
"It's a matter of holding it together," he said. "I need to have the perfect mix of aggression and tight play, and I picked up a couple of hands near the end."
With plenty of top competitors still in the hunt like Andre Akkari, Simon Deadman, Nam Le, and Anatoly Filatov, Hellmuth marked down Jeff Gross as the biggest roadblock on his way to victory.
"I'm taking it one step at a time, and I know that JG is in there, Jeff Gross," he said. "He's really tough, and I give him a lot of credit."
Hellmuth said he worked really hard this summer on his game, and despite not playing a lot of hold'em, he's feeling good.
"I feel like I'm playing really well, and last year I blew it," Hellmuth said about cashing in five hold'em events last year. "In three or four, I blew it. I got deep, had the chip lead, and it's amazing how often I went deep to begin with, but I blew it.
"There is no extra pressure now, though, because I blew it last year and I know I blew it. I'm not going to blow this. That means I'm going to play great, and we'll see what happens."
