Hellmuth Wins 10th Bracelet

Last night, Hellmuth claimed the $1,000 NL Hold Em w/re-buys. Phil entered the final day of the event with 770,000 in chips and about a 300,000 chip lead over the next highest stack. Tony G was eliminated with Q2 against Elio Cabrera's AT. Ralph Perry and Phil Hellmuth jawed at each other about displaying cards. Perry raised with 99, Hellmuth moved all-in with JJ, and Perry called. Hellmuth spiked a Jack and knocked out Perry in 8th.

David "C4" Plastik was short-stacked and moved all-in with Jacks. Hellmuth called him with Aces and knocked Plastik out in 7th place. Hellmuth got very lucky on a big hand. He flopped top pair, but was up against the nut straight. However, he caught runner runner flush to knock out Elio Cabrera in 6th place. Hellmuth stated to all at the tournament: "I just want everyone to know that Elio completely outplayed me on that hand. You deserved that one much more than I did. I got lucky."

Online player Terris Preston was knocked out in 5th place. Circuit Tournament winner John Spadavecchia tried stealing the blinds with Q8, but was called by Hellmuth with AT. The A-6-A flop knocked Spadavecchia out in 4th.

The final three were Hellmuth with 1.2 million in chips, Juha Helppi with 780,000 and Daryn Firicano with 500,000. After a few all-ins, the chip stacks were all about equal. Firicano was eliminated with KQ against Helppi's A8. The play was down to heads up with Helppi holding a 2 to 1 chip lead.

Hellmuth was whittled down and was forced to go all-in with 55 against Helppi's A6s. Hellmuth flopped the set, but Helppi flopped the nut flush draw. The turn gave Helppi the flush. The river paired the board to give Hellmuth a full boat and life in the tournament. The hand made the chip counts about even.

The action was forced when Helppi re-raised all-in with AT. Hellmuth instantly called with Kings and doubled up to take a commanding chip lead. The event was all but over. Helppi moved all-in with A9, Hellmuth called with AJ. Hellmuth's Ace-Jack high held up and he won his 10th bracelet along with over $600,000.

Hellmuth is once again tied for the most WSOP bracelets with 10. All of them are hold em events, 9 of them are No-Limit hold em events.

So far, the 2006 World Series has been the Phil Hellmuth show. He's had 6 cashes, 3 final tables, and a win. He is also on top of CardPlayer.com's WSOP Player of the Year standings.

I go to the casino and a lot of wannabe poker superstars claim that "Hellmuth isn't that good anymore" and that all his bracelets "were won when no-one played in the events." Well, this victory further disproves them. It also ends Phil's lengthy drought at major tournaments. Except for the 2005 Heads Up Tournament on NBC, Hellmuth hadn't won a major event since the 2003 World Series when he won $3,000 NL Hold Em.

Congratulations to Phil Hellmuth, the best No Limit player in the world right now.