Phil Hellmuth had just won a Record 16th WSOP Bracelet on Monday. Only three days later the Poker Brat was heads-up for bracelet Number 17 in Event #31: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship. Hellmuth has now also taken over the lead in the 2021 WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard.
Daniel Negreanu first one to hit the rail
The final day of Event #36 $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship was eagerly-awaited by poker fans around the globe as poker legends Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow were all among the final ten players.
Daniel Negreanu entered Day 3 in a promising 4th place, but couldn’t get anything going.
The day was going from bad to worse and then it all went completely wrong in a Stud Eight or Better hand against Andrew Kelsall.
The Canadian was left with only 75,000 chips (5 big blinds) and looked down to find 7♦6♦ in the cut-off, which was more than enough to jam. Matt Glantz obliged in the big blind and flipped over Ah2h.
The board came: A♦T♠Q♠9♥4♦, teasing Negreanu with a gutshot straight draw on the turn but no further help arrived.
Phil Hellmuth Plays Heads-Up against Adam Friedman, a Two-Time Winner of this Event
The action never let up for even a minute in this field. Phil Hellmuth was in a typically confident mood, but so was his fellow old-school poker legend Mike “The Mouth” Matusow.
Mike Matusow must have also have been fired up after his social media rant at a critical nomination for this year’s poker Hall of Fame entry.
A major news outlet claimed that he was past his best and no longer a top player—he must have been dying to prove the haters wrong.
@PokerNews you guys are a fucking disgrace what you wrote about my HOF nomination! I mash poker every yr every month for last 25 yrs. only reason I ever went broke was my injury! #fuckoff
— Mike Matusow (@themouthmatusow) October 20, 2021
By the time we were down the final six players, Jake Schwartz was the only player never to have won a WSOP bracelet. But he does have $3.4 million in live tournament winnings and eight cashes from this series already.
In the end it was Matusow’s friend Phil Hellmuth who sent him to the rail in a hand of 2-7 Triple Draw, and soon there would be only Adam Friedman between the “Poker Brat” and his 17th bracelet.
Adam Friedman is the defending champion and has actually won this event on two occasions—2018 and 2019. He also has another bracelet victory from 2012 in a Seven-Card-Stud event. Can he stop Phil Hellmuth’s charge?
Can Phil Hellmuth Pull off the Impossible?
Phil Hellmuth got off to a good start pulling out a comfortable chip lead, but it didn’t last for long.
The Wisconsin man tried double-barrelling on a monotone ace-high board only to give up on the river with Friedman flipping over A9s. It’s now looking like a tough ask but anything can still happen.
After being at a 4-1 chip disadvantage, Hellmuth’s pair of queens pulled some chips back in a hand of Stud Eight or Better, but it all went wrong only the very next hand in 2-7 No-Limit Single Draw.
Hellmuth was bluffing and Friedman made a good call to leave the chip stacks at 4,250,000 to 750,000.
Adam Friedman wins $10,000 Dealer’s Choice for the 3rd time in a row!
Adam Friedman continued to grind Phil Hellmuth down in epic fashion. He increased his chip lead further and further until 8 to 1.
In the final 2-7 No-Limit Single Draw Adam Friedman called Hellmuth’s All-In with a Jack-Nine low and was good.
This settled the deal and made Adam Friedman the first-ever Three-Time Champion of the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship!
Congratulations for this incredible achievement and also to Phil Hellmuth for reaching already his fifth WSOP final table this year as well as for another fantastic result.
Result $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship:
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