Top Stories of 2023, #3: Phil Hellmuth Wins Record-Extending 17th WSOP Gold Bracelet
When it comes to the World Series of Poker (WSOP), they dont come much bigger than Phil Hellmuth. The most decorated player in WSOP history was already six bracelets ahead of his next closest competition with 16 gold bracelets, and at the 2023 WSOP he extended that lead by adding No. 17.
The victory came in Event #72: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty, a tournament that drew 642 runners that generated a $4,044,600 prize pool. Hellmuth earned $803,818 plus various bounties for the win, which happened with little fanfare as it concluded in the early morning hours at an outside table in the Paris Ballroom.
It was not the money, however, that meant the most to Hellmuth. Rather, the extension of his record seemed to be of greater value as it gives his proponents more reason to argue that he is one of the best to have ever played the game.
While Hellmuth did end up on top, his tournament had its ups and downs. At one point, he was down to just 60,000 at the 15,000/30,000 blind level. "I just needed to make it to the break" he told PokerNews afterwards. The break allowed him to refocus and come back with renewed vigor on his way to mounting an improbable comeback.
Late in the day, he picked up pocket jacks three times, won several key flips, and found aces at an opportune moment to eliminate Phil Ivey in 6th place.
"I had jacks hold up against ace-king for three million each" Hellmuth said, describing the fortunate run of cards in the latter stages of the day. "Any potential luck that I was complaining about I received more than enough."
Event #72: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | $803,818 |
| 2 | Justin Zaki | United States | $496,801 |
| 3 | Tom Kunze | Germany | $349,737 |
| 4 | Kelvin Kerber | Brazil | $249,876 |
| 5 | Chris Savage | United States | $181,230 |
| 6 | Phil Ivey | United States | $133,461 |
| 7 | Brandon Steven | United States | $99,817 |
| 8 | Marc Foggin | United Kingdom | $75,837 |
Later in the summer, Hellmuth was a guest on The Chad & Jesse Poker Show where he further elaborated on his record-extending 17th gold bracelet and his tradition of giving it away to a close friend, this time to billionaire entrepreneur, author, and internet tech investor David Sacks.