Poker Legend Phil Hellmuth Wins 17th WSOP Bracelet

In one of the top moments of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) so far, poker legend Phil Hellmuth on Sunday won his 17th tournament bracelet, placing even more distance between himself and his closest rivals on the all-time bracelet list. (Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, and the late Doyle Brunson each have 10.)

Hellmuth cut a swath through the 642-entrant field, which was the largest $10K Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold ‘em event by 53%, but found himself in the middle of the pack at the final table. There, he chased after Chris Savage, the LA player who commanded 40% of the chips in play after leaving Lawrence Brandt in 10th place. At one point in the roller-coaster action, Hellmuth was down to two big blinds ($60K at the 15K/30K blind level).

Hellmuth turned things around when his pocket aces left Ivey in 6th place with king-10 and a $133,461 payday. L.A. player Rick Savage’s time came next, followed by Brazilian player Kelvin Kerber and German player Tom Kunze.

This left Justin Zaki to battle it out with helmet for the $803,818 first prize and bracelet. Hellmuth felled his Floridian opponent after just one hand of head-up play, in which Hellmuth flopped two pair and called Zaki’s all-in bet, building a full house on the turn. Zaki walked away with $496,801.

Hellmuth has won a WSOP bracelet in five different decades since winning his first Main Event in 1989. His last was in 2021.

“This is the first year of my career that all the great players called me great or the greatest,” he told Poker News. “Shaun Deeb is one of the greatest players in the world. He finally understands and was giving me compliments like, ‘You’re the best player in the tournament.’”