On Sunday, Phil Hellmuth was successful in winning his 16th World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Hellmuth came first out of an impressive 2,772 entries.
In an interview after his victory, Hellmuth told Card Player that he intends to extend his record breaking bracelet collection to 24 titles before his retirement from professional poker.
“I’ve always said that I’m going to win 24 bracelets. Then, Ivey said he might win 30. So I readjusted,” said Hellmuth. “I just have this weird sense that maybe I’ll win at least 24 bracelets, but they are not that easy to win in the mixed games.”
This victory puts Hellmuth well clear of his closest rivals. Phil Ivey, Jonny Chan, and Doyle Brunson all have10 bracelets apiece.
The poker champion continued: “There is a lot of skill in these tournaments. It’s harder to win the mixed games. If I can win four of five mixed bracelets, I think it will say a lot about my legacy. I think I am playing a bunch of games at a world-class level now.”
This marks Hellmuth’s first WSOP victory in a deuce-to-seven poker game. The prize pool for this round was set at $363,120; $84,851 was won by Hellmuth.
In second place came Jake Schwartz, followed by Chris Vitch who won $52,502 and $36,387 respectively.
“I’ve wanted a deuce-to-seven bracelet ever since the 1980’s because it was the coolest bracelet to win. It’s the one tournament that Chip, Doyle, and all the big named poker players showed up for. I’ve been fighting so hard for this bracelet for so long, and my game has gotten better and better. I’ve worked really hard at it and I know all these tricks because I’ve been playing since the eighties. It feels really good,” added Hellmuth.
