Ask any serious poker player the worst position to finish in a poker tournament and they will tell you second place. Being so close to winning a large field poker tournament can be agonising, so image what it must feel like to do be a runner-up in a tournament on the World’s biggest stage, the World Series of Poker, and then multiply that by three times.
Phil Hellmuth has as many haters and he does fans due to his demeanour at the table and his massively inflated ego but even those who are not Hellmuth’s biggest fans must have some sympathy for the 11-time WSOP bracelet winner after he finished second for the third time this series.
He first disappointment came in Event #16 when he lost to John Juanda heads up in the $10,000 Deuce-to-Seven Draw Championship and he came ever so close to winning Event #33, the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo Championship but eventually lost to Eric Rodawig to finish second once again. But they say bad news and bad luck often travels in threes and that certainly appears to be the case as yesterday Hellmuth finished in second place again, this time in the $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship, the tournament that every poker pro wants to win.
A total of 128 players entered the $50,000 event, which created a massive first place prize of $1,720,328, the largest of the WSOP so far, but despite the huge sums of money involved each of the players will have been wanting the bracelet, the prestige, the glory and the David “Chip” Reese Memorial trophy. After five long days of intense mixed-game action, including 12 hours at the eight-handed final table, Hellmuth found himself heads up against Brian Rast almost level in chips. The pair did not stay level as Rast seriously struggled with Hellmuth’s unorthodox playing style and he slipped to a seemingly unassailable deficit of almost 8:1.
However, poker is full of stories of epic comebacks and Rast now has one of his own after Lady Luck decided to shine down on him and completely ruin Hellmuth’s party. The major turning point was on hand 210 of the final table when Rast committed his stack with AdKh on a Th-4h-4s flop and Hellmuth made the call with 9h6h. The turn and river were the Qc and 2s respectively and Rast had doubled up to 5,260,000 chips but was still trailing. He was only behind for another three hands when once again Hellmuth chased a flush draw and missed. “The Poker Brat” limped on the button and Rast checked his option. The flop came down Jc-4d-Kc and Rast lead out with a 375,000 bet, which Hellmuth raised to 900,000. Rast then announced he was all in for what turned out to be 4,190,000 chips and Hellmuth made the call! Rast turned over Ks7d for top pair whilst Hellmuth held Tc8c. The Kd on the turn improved Rast to trip kings and took away some of Hellmuth’s outs as the four, seven or jack of clubs would give Rast a flush-beating full house. The dealer put the 6h out on the river and Rast was just 700,000 chips behind Hellmuth.
The amazing comeback was completed just four hands later when Hellmuth missed his third consecutive flush draw. He opened the betting with a raise to 400,000 and Rast elected to call. The Jd-9d-Ts flop was met with a 500,000 bet from Rast and an all-in three-bet from Hellmuth. Rast said, “I’m sorry Phil, I have the nuts. I call,” before standing from his seat and turning over KcQc for a straight. Hellmuth flipped over 8d2d and would need a diamond to stay in the tournament. The turn was the 5h, missing Helllmuth, and the river was the 8s sending a stunned Hellmuth to the rail.
There was surprisingly no hissy fit from Hellmuth, instead he congratulated Rast on his victory and half-joked that Rast should tip the dealer at least one million dollars! Love him or hate him you cannot deny that Phil Hellmuth has been on fire at the 2011 WSOP and I for one hope he has a deep run in the $10,000 Main Event in the coming days.
Final table payouts
1st: Brian Rast: $1,720,238
2nd: Phil Hellmuth: $1,063,034
3rd: Minh Ly: $665,763
4th: Owais Ahmed: $482,085
5th: Matt Glantz: $376,750
6th: George Lind: $300,441
7th: Scoott Seiver: $243,978
8th: Ben Lamb: $201,338
