The World Series of Poker Has Almost Become the Hellmuth Show
Love him or hate him – and amongst the poker fanbase it seems to be an equal split – Phil Hellmuth has been outstanding at this year’s World Series of Poker. The 57-year-old player added a 16th WSOP bracelet to his jewelry collection when taking a No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw competition a fortnight ago. He has since narrowly missed out on another wrist piece when finishing second in the Dealers Choice 6-Handed Championship.
Phil Hellmuth, always a polarizing character, hasn’t burned down the Rio Casino. But he has won his 16th World Series bracelet. ©PokerGO
The acclaimed ‘Poker Brat’ now has six more WSOP bracelets than his closest pursuers: Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey. They have ten bracelets apiece. With 30 more 2021 WSOP events yet to start, the in-form Hellmuth may yet add to his incredible haul.
No Action Taken
Not for the first time Hellmuth has come in for criticism for some of his antics at the tables during the current Series. At the final table of the Seven Card Stud Championship – where he would ultimately finish fourth – the veteran delivered a barrage of expletives, threw his cards at the dealer and also threatened to “burn this place down.”
A condensed video of this episode has since gone viral on social media. Resultantly, critics quickly pointed to Rule 46 of the WSOP Rules which states: “Rio [casino] prohibits the use of obscene or foul language in any public area of the casino at any time.”
It goes on to say action will be taken in the event of a rule breach, stating: “Any Participant who uses such language or makes a foul, profane, obscene or vulgar statement, or speaks abusively or in an intimidating manner to another Participant, a dealer or a WSOP Tournament staff member, will be penalized.”
Nevertheless, the tournament organizers took no action against Hellmuth prompting players to accuse the WSOP of employing double standards. “I’m guessing any player other than the WSOP poster boy would be ejected by now,” said one observer.
“Was the Tournament Director taking a nap or does the WSOP have a new policy that it’s OK to verbally abuse other players?” asked respected professional John Juanda in a Tweet shortly after the tirade had been broadcast online.
Eisenberg Hammers 642 Rival Ladies
Of course, there have been numerous great stories to come out of the 2021 World Series of Poker. The WSOP Ladies Event attracted 644 entries, one of that number was a man!
Thomas Hammers was the individual that took his shot against the ladies. The cost of doing so was ten times that of a standard entry for a female player. But he never recoupled any part of his $10,000 investment.
The title ultimately fell to radiologist and skydiver Lara Eisenberg. The Maryland native collected her first WSOP bracelet and a cool $115,694 for her efforts.
Norton Is One-from-One, Friedman Does the Three-Peat
Another first-time bracelet winner was Chad Norton. The former car salesman, now an established online poker player, took the $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack beating off a 2,053-entry field. Making this victory all the more significant is the fact Norton was playing in his first-ever live tournament at the World Series of Poker.
Meanwhile, Adam Friedman has entered the record books as the first player to win the same WSOP bracelet event three consecutive times. Outlasting 92 rival entrants, he took the $10,000 entry Dealer’s Choice competition to take his personal bracelet tally to four.
Making his victory all the more impressive was his heads-up play against a certain Mr. Phil Hellmuth. At one stage Friedman trailed the ‘Brat’ with a more than two-to-one chip deficit. Yet, after more than two hours of heads-up play, he had garnered every chip in the tournament.
