Phil Hellmuth Can't Dodge Bullets, Falls Short of Winning 16th WSOP Bracelet in $5K Turbo

Aleeyah Jadavji

Jul 17, 2019 5 min read Last updated Jul 18, 2019

Phil Hellmuth finished sixth in the $5K Turbo event he won at last year's WSOP.

Hellmuth Can't Dodge Bullets
The Comeback
Back to Work

As the 50th annual World Series of Poker wound down on Tuesday in the Amazon room of the Rio, the energy was palpable as the final three played down to a champion in the $10,000 Main Event. On the other side of the room, three other events were winding down with the final four bracelets of the 2019 WSOP to be awarded by the end of the day's play.

Among the remaining players was the all-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, who was in contention in Event #89: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em looking to go back-to-back after winning bracelet No. 15 in the same event last year.

It’s my birthday, and I have one wish for the day: WIN A @WSOP Bracelet!
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth)

Hellmuth wouldn't get his birthday wish as he fell in sixth place for $94,899 after a rather swingy day, but all in all, it was a pretty good day for the birthday boy.

Hellmuth Can't Dodge Bullets

Hellmuth came in to the day in 24th position of 44 players remaining and ended up sitting third in chips with two tables remaining.

The first hand that propelled Hellmuth came at the expense of Sam Ganzfried. With blinds at 40,000/80,000 with a big blind ante of 80,000, Ganzfried limped in from the small blind with about 400,000 behind. Hellmuth was in the big blind and shoved all in.

"This fucking guy. He's been all in ten fucking times..."

Ganzfried snapped him off, tabling A♦A♣. Hellmuth revealed 5♦3♠ and the dealer put out a flop of K♥J♠7♥. It looked relatively safe for Ganzfried until the 6♥ hit the turn to give Hellmuth a gut-shot straight draw. Sure enough, the river was the 4♦ and Hellmuth made his straight to send Ganzfried to the rail in 12th place.

"Good trap," said Hellmuth. "Sorry about that."

Not too long after, blinds were 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 big blind ante and Hellmuth raised to 250,000 from the small blind. Lars Kamphues defended his big blind and the dealer fanned a flop of 7♣5♥4♥. Hellmuth shoved all in and Kamphues snap-called with less chips. Hellmuth had run into aces again, this time holding A♣5♠.

Unfortunately for the Poker Brat, he couldn't hunt down the aces this time with the board running out with the 4♦ and the J♦ to leave Hellmuth with just four big blinds with 10 players left. "This fucking guy," said Hellmuth. "He's been all in ten fucking times..."

The Comeback

Anyone who has seen Hellmuth play knows the leading bracelet winner is never out of the game. He proved this once again, mounting an epic comeback to make a run at the title defense. First, he got it in with king-deuce against David 'ODB' Baker's ace-queen, with Baker flopping the nut flush draw to go with his overcards. The poker brat rivered an off-suit king to double, followed by another double with ace-queen versus ace-ten suited a few hands later.

At the official final table (9 left) of @WSOP No Limit Hold’em Turbo! My third final table in this event in four y… https://t.co/FdIkx42NIC
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth)

Hellmuth couldn't keep it going though and proceeded to fold until he was down to just under three big blinds. In his final hand, Hellmuth put the majority of his stack in the middle from under the gun, and Tony Dunst asked for a count before moving in over top. Hellmuth called off and tabled five-three suited, up against Dunst's ace-ten.

Hellmuth flopped a wheel draw and nailed it on the turn, but the same card also gave Dunst two pair with aces and tens. The river was another ace and Dunst filled up to send Hellmuth to the rail in sixth place.

Back to Work

Finished 6th place ($95,000) in @WSOP Turbo. My 3rd Final Table in the Turbo in 4 years! Next, I’m LIVE on ESPN “Br… https://t.co/uTxVLh1tgh
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth)

Despite not being able to lock up another bracelet, Hellmuth was in good spirits following his elimination, shaking the hands of all of his tablemates. He even joked about going back to the WSOP Main Event break desk, which he indeed did. "I know one person that will be happy! Where is Mori! Now I can do the f**king ESPN stuff!"

Having a blast at the @WSOP breakdesk with these two pros. Thanks for making my job easy, @MariaHo and birthday boy… https://t.co/6sII3HU3jK
— Kara Scott (@KaraOTR)

Hellmuth's summer WSOP may be over, but he can look back and be proud of yet another tremendous showing. The Poker Brat cashed a total of 12 times including a final table online and one live.

Event	Place/Entries	Prize
Event #7: $400 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em	5/2,825	$39,460
Event #19: Millionaire Maker - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em	1,242/8,809	$2,324
Event #23: $1,500 Eight Game Mix	59/612	$2,453
Event #28: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em	16/2,477	$13,830
Event #33: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw	59/467	$2,263
Event #37: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack	283/2,808	$1,422
Event #53: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack 8-Handed	67/3,759	$3,904
Event #78: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty	155/1,130	$1,416
Event #82: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack	176/2,589	$3,244
Event #84: The Closer - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em	193/2,800	$3,500
Event #88: $500 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em Summer Saver	141/1,859	$1,088
Event #89: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em	6/608	$94,899