Phil Hellmuth Discusses Amazing 12th WSOP Bracelet

As the whole poker world is aware by now, Phil Hellmuth has finally captured his 12th WSOP bracelet after taking down Event #18: $2,500 Seven Card Razz for $182,793.
Nevertheless, the specter of his spectacular but ultimately disappointing failure to capture a single bracelet after finishing the runner-up three times at last year’s WSOP, crept into Hellmuth’s thoughts during play, who later explained:
“Fear set in a couple of times. When he made a nice run, I was like, ‘oh my God, not again,’ and I said, ‘no, eliminate all negative thoughts and just focus on playing great..I was just thinking one thing, ‘Play perfect poker,’ and pushing all the negative thoughts out of my head. I just wanted to win.”
Nevertheless, Phil Hellmuth still had his work cut out to overcome his final hurdle in the form of top cash poker veteran Don Zewin, who also now has an additional $1,162,712 in live tournament winnings to his name. The two players, too, have history and as Hellmuth explains:
“Zewin’s a great player, he’s been a professional cash game player since the ’80s. When it was me and Chan heads-up at the final table, he finished third in ‘89 in the Main Event. I’ve been playing with him for decades, he’s just tough as nails, and he’s not going to give anything away.”
All the while, heaping extra pressure on the the 47 year-old was the fact that at the same time as he was competing in event 18, Phil Ivey, too, was making a run at a 9th WSOP winners bracelet after getting heads-up against Andy Frankenberger in Event #17: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em tournament.
Fortunately for Hellmuth, Ivey came up short after former equity trader Andrew Frankenberger won his 2nd career WSOP bracelet, despite starting three-handed play with just eight big blinds. Commenting on competitive rival Phil Ivey, Hellmuth said:
“I’ve been where he is right now. Second I hate….It was a big swing in the bracelet race too I guess, because if I don’t win and he does wins, it’s 11 to nine, and if I win and he doesn’t win, it’s 12 to eight, and I know he wants to race me to 25.”
Finally, Hellmuth winning his first WSOP bracelet for five years has gone a long way towards answering his detractors, as well as providing potentially more headaches for his poker pro friends. For example, after Daniel Negreanu tweeted “time to get new hats and logos with “12” on em,”John Juanda humorously re-tweeted:
“Congrats @Phil_Hellmuth on winning his 12th bracelet. I agree @RealKidPoker, he definitely needs new hats, old1 for sure won’t fit anymore:)”