As the workers stacked 100s of chairs and poker tables in the convention halls of the Paris and Horseshoe casinos, marking the end of the 54th World Series of Poker, Phil Hellmuth was dealing with a little unfinished business — extending his world-record.
But his 18th bracelet will have to wait until next year.
Hellmuth couldn’t seal the deal in the second-to-the-last WSOP event of the summer, a $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em contest that brought in 884 entries. He finished second to Darren Rabinowitz, who won his first live bracelet and $695,256.
Hellmuth took $464,286 for second. The soon to be 62-year-old now has more than $31 million in tournament cashes since he won the WSOP Main Event as a 24-year-old in 1989. More than $18 million of that came in WSOP events.
“You gotta give him credit,” said Hellmuth of Rabinowitz in a video posted afterwards, letting his inner poker brat fly. “He played tough, but I feel like I’m the best player, and everybody knows it. And it’s just a shame that I couldn’t win the bracelet.”
His last bracelet came in 2023, the same year Rabinowitz won his first online in a $1,700 event.
With the win, Rabinowitz pushed his lifetime tournament cashes over the $5 million mark. The cash nearly doubled his previous best from a fourth-place finish in the 2014 Aussie Millions.
It’s no secret that Hellmuth is obsessed with keeping his name on top of the WSOP bracelet record book, just like it’s no secret that he wears his emotions on his sleeve, particularly disappoint when he falls short, which happened several times this year. This was his third final table of the summer, but was his best result by five places. He only managed six cashes.
So he ends the summer just where he started, six ahead of Phil Ivey with a bunch of younger players gaining ground. Hellmuth has got to feel their hot breath on the back of his neck as he traverses his six decade of life and less and less “next years” in front of him.
Event #99: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em — Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darren Rabinowitz | United States | $695,256 |
| 2 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | $464,286 |
| 3 | Nicholas Palma | United States | $326,136 |
| 4 | Joshua Stewart | United Kingdom | $232,570 |
| 5 | Nick Pupillo | United States | $168,402 |
| 6 | Victor Li | Canada | $123,846 |
| 7 | Max Kingstone | United States | $92,527 |
| 8 | Connor Belcher | United States | $70,245 |
| 9 | Josh Norvock | Australia | $54,204 |
