Phil Hellmuth’s Chips Swiped During Break in $10K 2-7 Single Draw Championship

Image courtesy of PokerGO.com

Phil Hellmuth’s luck is showing no signs of changing after a tough first three weeks to the 2022 WSOP.

After a couple of bouts of illness, the American thought the wind had changed when he found himself down to the final 21 players in the $10K 2-7 Single Draw Championship, but that changed when he arrived back after a break to discover that his entire stack had been swiped.

---

Swiped

After arriving in Las Vegas, Phil Hellmuth gave his customary statement that he was motivated and ready to challenge for a record 17th WSOP bracelet with one eye on the Player of the Year title. Then the wheels came off.

With a day or two of arriving, Hellmuth found himself laid up with an upset stomach, unable to take his seat in Event #2: $100K High Roller Bounty.

Then a week later a positive COVID-19 case, leaving him holed in his Aria suite awaiting a negative test. According to Hellmuth, this cost him what was possibly his best shot ata bracelet in the $10K Dealer’s Choice.

As if all that wasn’t enough drama, during a break to break down the final four tables into three, Hellmuth racked up his chips and went for a bathroom break, but upon his return he arrived to discover his stack nowhere to be seen.

Apparently, it looked as if the missing chips were now mixed in with Farzad Bonyadi’s stack but nobody knew how this had happened.

In cases like this, it isn’t difficult to consult the eye-in-the-sky and review the pin sharp footage to work out what the exact chips were. Twenty minutes later, WSOP staff arrived back at the table to confirm that Hellmuth’s stack was indeed 135,000, in line with the “Poker Brat’s” estimation of slightly more than 130,000.

Phil Hellmuth said: “We went on break and I’m kind of smart, I knew it was going to take them a while, so I went to the bathroom, but I left my chips in a rack and then Scott Seiver said leave Phil’s chips in a rack. And then one of the other players took them and put them in his stack,”

---

Chino Reem Sticks Up for Farzad Bonyadi

Phil Hellmuth handled this frustrating situation politely but when Chino Reem interjected to tell him it was only an accident, it could have brought memories flooding back from when the pair clashed in a USPO event back in March of this year.

Hellmuth replied: “Yeah, it was a complete accident. He’s a class guy, he would never do it intentionally. Stuff happens.”

Much more polite than what he said to Reem on the PokerGO stream when he described him as “the worst f**king player ever.”

3......2.......1.......🚀

(spoiler alert: @phil_hellmuth did not win this hand) pic.twitter.com/YW2dzzDjKZ

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) March 24, 2022