Making History with my 10th!

Date: 2006.07.31 | Category: Hand Of The Week | By: Phil Hellmuth   

After fighting hard here in Las Vegas for more than a month, and making it into the money in six tournaments, with three final tables, I won my coveted bracelet number 10! The money wasn’t bad either — $630,000 for first place. But honestly, I would have paid at least that much (assuming that I had it!) to win another World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet and tie Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson for the all-time bracelet lead. Fortunately, they paid me the money along with the bracelet. Winning WSOP bracelets and other history-making poker tournaments is the reason why I play the game. In fact, my passion for the game, and my level of play, are at a new high.

After a tough second-place finish a few weeks back, I believe that many in the poker world thought that I would not be back to the final table. After all, the fields are pretty massive, and it isn’t easy to make it all the way to the final nine. But I came back to two more final tables, finally beating the other 1,600 players in the $1,000 buy-in — with rebuys — no limit Hold ’em to claim my 10th WSOP title. That tournament began on Sunday, and I told my mother and father, “I don’t think I have enough gas in the tank to win this thing. I have played until midnight or later in so many of these tournaments, under intense pressure, for 30 days now. If I win it, it will be purely by gutting it out.” My mother then pretended to be a gas pump, and somehow it inspired me — she is a spiritual woman. I do not think that I would have won this event without my father watching all day long on Day 2 and Day 3, and my mother’s inspiring presence. Thanks, folks!