WSOP Day 18 Review: Hellmuth Makes History with 16th WSOP Bracelet Victory

Phil Hellmuth took down the 2-7 Lowball Draw Event #31 to win his 16th World Series of Poker bracelet and extend his record-breaking haul of gold in WSOP event to a ‘sweet sixteen’. Hellmuth, at his fourth final table of the 2021 WSOP, got over the line against Jake Schwartz heads-up amid stunning scenes in the Thunderdome.

After a frustrating and controversial beginning to the Series, Hellmuth came close but couldn’t get over the line in three other final table appearances. Today, however, was different. Going into play only behind Rep Porter at the top of the chipcounts, Hellmuth made the most of every opportunity he could and took the title and his 16th bracelet after getting the better of Jake Schwartz heads-up.

After the victory, Hellmuth told PokerGO: ““I’ve wanted a deuce-to-seven bracelet ever since the 1980s because it was the coolest bracelet to win. It was the one tournament that Chip and Doyle showed up for. All of the big-name poker players, such as Billy Baxter – all the champions showed up for that one tournament. It was a $10K with rebuys, so they would be in for $50,000. I wanted this bracelet so badly.”

For more on this unprecedented achievement by Hellmuth, head straight to our exclusive report from the final table at the Rio right here.

Event #30, the legendary $1,500-entry Monster Stack event, saw 1,220 players start the day and just 162 survive a busy Day 2. At the close of play, Ryan Leng was in charge as he bagged up just over 4 million chips, with Jason Wheeler (3.8 million) and Lina Huard (3.2m) both hot on his heels.

Other big names in the top 10 chipcounts include Ian O’Hara (3,025,000) and Uri Reichenstein (2,995,000), with other superstars from the felt such as Upeshka De Silva (2,130,000), Bin Weng (1,700,000) and JJ Liu (1,245,000) all in the hunt for gold on Day 3.

Players to miss out on Day 3 included but weren’t limited to Craig Varnell, Kenny Hallaert, Mike Dentale, WSOP Main Event 2016 winner Qui Nguyen, Shannon Shorr and Ari Engel.

In Event #32, the $3,000-entry H.O.R.S.E. event, plenty of superstars from the world of poker took chips through to Day 3 as a field of just 20 survived the day with Eli Elezra (1,243,000) the chip leader.

Elezra has some stellar company in the top 10 alone, with players such as Maria Ho (908,000), Jim Collopy (890,000) and Sachin Bharagava (655,000) all chasing down the four-time bracelet winner.

Others weren’t so fortunate to survive, with stars of the felt such as Scott Bohlman, Dan Heimilller, Allen Kessler, John Racener and George Alexander all busting on Day 2.

Event #33, the $800-entry eight-handed NHLE event, saw a day of fast-paced action really cut through the numbers as just 159 players remained in seats at the close of play.

Day 2 will kick off at 12 noon on Day 19, with the field of 159 playing down to a final five that will then assemble in the Thunderdome to fight for the bracelet. Plenty of big names bagged a lot of chips across the day, with Alex Miles (2,700,000) closing the day as the chip leader. Miles was followed in the chipcounts but Tony Nguyen (2,185,000) and Todd Ivens (2,030,000) were close behind him.

Elsewhere in the top ten chipcounts, Ankush Mandavia (1,600,000) and Simon Lefevre (1,300,000) both bagged strong counts to put themselves in a great position to make the final day. Others such Ian Steinman (1,320,000), Matt Affleck (840,000) and Ryan Laplante (650,000) all have very playable stacks and a lot of experience to call upon when the penultimate day of the event takes place.

Finally, Event #34, the $1,500-entry Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw event saw over half of the 284-entry field trimmed as just over 70 players survived. Adam Owen (246,000) is the chip leader heading into the second day, with players such as Brian Yoon (226,500), Daniel Aton (207,500) and Cory Zeidman (198,000) all thriving.

With players such as Michael Gathy, David ‘ODB’ Baker, Benny Glaser, Ben Yu and Brian Hastings all busting, players will return tomorrow to see if they can bag a final table seat to battle it out for gold on Tuesday.

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