World Series of Poker win extends Phil Hellmuth’s record
Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, June 9, 2015
- FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2014 file photo, Martin Jacobson, center with glasses, celebrates with supporters after winning the World Series of Poker main event in Las Vegas. The annual weeks-long tournament at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas that rewards millions of dollars to the best card sharks playing in 68 events starts Wednesday , May 27, 2015, with a new event expected to attract at least 10,000 players. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Poker star Phil Hellmuth has again extended his World Series of Poker winning record among the card game’s all-time greats and dedicated his latest victory to his friend, the late Silicon Valley entrepreneur Dave Goldberg.
Hellmuth won his 14th tournament bracelet early Tuesday morning, placing him four ahead of poker’s other iconic winners Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey. The gold bracelets, poker’s version of the Super Bowl ring or the Olympics medals, have been handed out to winners of the individual World Series of Poker events since the tournament’s early beginnings in 1976.
Hellmuth, known as the “Poker Brat,” has won more than anyone.
His win Tuesday in the $10,000 buy-in razz championship event added $271,105 to his lifetime World Series of Poker winnings, bringing the total to nearly $12.8 million. The razz event was a variation of seven-card stud poker where the lowest five-card hand wins. He outlasted 102 other entrants.
The championship was just one of 68 events, all offering a chance at a golden bracelet prize, happening in Las Vegas at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino throughout the 51-day World Series of Poker that started on May 27 and culminates with the closely watched Main Event.
Hellmuth won that event in 1989 as the youngest player to ever do so at the time at the age of 24. The now 50-year-old poker professional lives in Palo Alto in California’s Silicon Valley.
After winning the razz event Tuesday morning, the World Series of Poker reported that Hellmuth told the crowd gathered to see his win that he planned to give the bracelet to Goldberg’s family. Goldberg died last month in a treadmill accident while he was on vacation in Mexico with his wife, Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg.
