Legendary poker player and announcer Mike Sexton released a lengthy blog post on partypoker’s pro blog, sharing his thoughts about the upcoming WSOP.
The poker hall-of-famer was appointed the chairman of partypoker in May 2017. Before that, he was commentating for World Poker Tour events for 15 years. This time, however, he focuses on another world-famous tournament series – the World Series of Poker.
Can anyone catch @phil_hellmuth in WSOP bracelets? You’ll find my two cents worth in this blog. https://t.co/AIMwgm7zVn
— Mike Sexton (@Mike_partypoker) May 10, 2019
Can Anyone Catch Hellmuth?
The 50th WSOP kicks off on May 28th at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The World Series being so soon is what inspired Sexton’s post.
Sexton claims in his piece that he repeatedly gets asked whether anyone can break Phil Hellmuth’s 15-bracelet record.
“I get asked periodically, ‘Can anyone ever catch Hellmuth in bracelets won at the WSOP?’It could happen, but I believe it will take at least 20 years before it does, if it ever does. Chances are, Phil will win another 2-5 bracelets before he retires. Who can catch him?” – this is what he said about the question.
He thinks that the person with the best chance of catching Hellmuth on the top of the list is Daniel Negreanu. Even though there are players who are closer to him in bracelets (Negreanu has “only” six), Sexton believes that Negreanu is the one “obsessed” enough with the WSOP to have a chance of dethroning.
He also shouts out Shaun Deeb for winning 4 golden bracelets since 2016, calling him “by far the hottest player in recent years”.
The partypoker chairman also points out that the number of bracelets won isn’t the only WSOP record Hellmuth holds. He also has the most ITM finishes (137) and the most runner-up finishes (10). With all this flattery, no wonder Hellmuth retweeted Sexton’s blog post.
Those stats also give a little more justification for Hellmuth’s grandiose entrance to last year’s Main Event at the WSOP.
More of Mike Sexton gives his Thoughts on the WSOP
Sexton – who himself has one bracelet from a 1989 Stud event – dwells on a vast array of other subjects regarding the WSOP.
He asks: how come the World Series of Poker is the most prestigious, best-known poker tournament series in the world?
It is the oldest one, the inaugural WSOP was held in 1970. However, Sexton believes, their success is also thanks to the fact that they keep very good record of their history. All kinds of statistics are available, dating back decades. Also, if you go into the Rio casino during the World Series, you’ll be greeted by banners of previous Player of the Year winners.
Sexton also talks about how much buy-ins escalated for WSOP events in recent years. As he points out, there were no events bigger than $10K until 2006. The largest buy-in tournament on this year’s schedule is $100,000. However, there have been $1 million events held in the past. For example, last year, when it was won by Justin Bonomo for $10 million.
partypokerLIVE MILLIONS North America is Also Around the Corner
But the WSOP isn’t the only tourney series coming up soon.
Sexton starts his blog post talking about partypokerLIVE MILLIONS North America starting this week at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, Canada. The $7,648 buy-in Main Event has a $5 million GTD prize pool.
