Will Phil Hellmuth Capture His Record 14th Bracelet Today?
Yesterday, Phil Hellmuth, the World Series of Poker's most decorated player, notched his 108th WSOP cash and 51st WSOP final table here in the WSOP APAC Event #7 AU$2,200 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em. Now, the 1989 WSOP Main Event champ has a chance as his record 14th gold bracelet and looks to become just the third player to win gold bracelets in the US, Europe, and Australia, the others being Daniel Negreanu and Jeff Lisandro.
Thanks to busting out Kris Nestorovic in seventh place, Hellmuth will take 266,500 in chips into Day 3. While that's technically fifth on the leader board out of the final six players, the top five stacks are separated by less than 50,000 in chips, as the top stack has 315,000.
Steven Zhou will begin the day as chip leader, but Alexander Antonios (278,000), Michael Tran (274,000), and Yu Kurita (269,500) sit between him and Hellmuth. Kurita has become the first female player to reach a WSOP Asia-Pacific final table, and she's got just as good a chance as any to grab the gold.
Rounding out the final table with 65,000 in chips is none other 2014 WSOP November Niner Bruno Politano. The Brazilian, who is the only November Niner to make the trip to the land down under, is the short stack, and that's somewhat fitting as he will also be the short stack when the WSOP Main Event reconvenes in November. Obviously he's proving it was no fluke when he made the November Nine.
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steven Zhou | 315,000 |
| 2 | Phil Hellmuth | 266,500 |
| 3 | Alexander Antonios | 278,000 |
| 4 | Michael Tran | 274,000 |
| 5 | Yu Kurita | 269,500 |
| 6 | Bruno Politano | 65,000 |
Can Politano make a comeback and walk away with the bracelet? Will Hellmuth be able to make poker history or will someone else emerge as the last man — or woman — standing? Today all questions will be answered. One thing is for sure, Hellmuth is feeling good. After play completed last night, he spoke with PokerNews Senior Editor Chad Holloway about making the final table and his quest for number 14:
The third and final day will begin at 12:10 p.m. local time, which is a little over an hour from now. Be sure to stay tuned as PokerNews will bring you hand-for-hand coverage of Hellmuth's quest for his fourteenth bracelet.