What would the World Series of Poker Main Event be without a grand entrance from Phil Hellmuth?
The “Poker Brat” showed up for the Day 1b session as P. T. Barnum from The Greatest Showman and was accompanied by his pet lion and aptly nicknamed Dan “Jungleman” Cates.
The reception to Hellmuth’s arrival was warmer this summer, a stark contrast from the chorus of boos that greeted him last year.
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“Just a Showman”
Hellmuth and Cates went the extra mile this time around, similar to 2021, where the duo were decked out in Lord of the Rings.
Hellmuth and a caged Cates were followed into the Horseshoe Events Centre by 17 models, all holding up a card with a number from 1 to 17, marking the number of bracelets that Hellmuth has won.
As they entered the tournament room, Katy Perry’s Roar blasted over the speakers while VP of WSOP Jack Effel introduced the two icons.
Late Surge of Player of the Year?
It’s taken until week six of the WSOP for Hellmuth to crack the top ten in the Player of the Year Standings and could be in the running for getting his first POY banner following a strong end to the series.
He recently extended his bracelet record after taking down Event #72: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty for $803,818, which saw him crack the upper echelons of the leaderboard as well as breaching the top twenty on the all-time money list.
It would take an incredibly deep run from Hellmuth in the Main Event to boost his chances for POY, something that he hasn’t done for quite some time. His last in-the-money finish in poker’s most famous event was in 2015, where he finished in 417th for $21,786.
WSOP POY Leaderboard
| Place | Name | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Matakis | United States | 4,041.33 |
| 2 | Christopher Brewer | United States | 3,600.53 |
| 3 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 3,517.00 |
| 4 | Michael Rodrigues | Portugal | 3,340.63 |
| 5 | Jesse Lonis | United States | 3,015.07 |
| 6 | Chad Eveslage | United States | 2,848.76 |
| 7 | David “ODB” Baker | United States | 2,710.92 |
| 8 | Chance Kornuth | United States | 2,689.44 |
| 9 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | 2,675.24 |
| 10 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | 2,540.54 |
Which is Your Favorite Hellmuth Entrance?
Hellmuth has been rocking up to the Main Event in some form of costume for the best part of the last twenty years, with some still entrenched in our brains.
Hellmuth as Gandalf and Julius Caesar are some of the more memorable appearances. However the most notable has to be when Hellmuth rocked up to the Rio as a NASCAR driver. The original plan was for him to arrive in a stock car. However, Hellmuth lost control of the vehicle and had it written off after crashing into a bollard.
Follow Hellmuth’s Main Event Journey on PokerNews