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Adam Friedman has won the WSOP $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Event for the third year running, denying Phil Hellmuth a record 17th bracelet. The American will take home $248,350 for his efforts as well as an incredible sense of accomplishment for pulling off this amazing achievement.
Phil Hellmuth Comes Painfully Close to Creating More History
No matter what your feelings are of Phil Hellmuth, it’s really hard not to feel for him right now. Everyone knows just how much these results mean to him and he came ever so close.Victory in this event would have been the ultimate retort to those who criticise the level of his play, but it wasn’t to be.
The record-breaking 16th bracelet win the other night is enough in itself but with a runner-up and fourth in the same fortnight, how can we not think about what might have been.
Adam Friedman’s achievement will also send shockwaves around the live poker scene.
This event is such a hotchpotch of different games, many which never even get their own tournaments. To master this format, one needs to become a true all-rounder, the true test of greatness in a poker player. Winning this event three times is almost unthinkable, let alone doing it three times on the bounce.
Adam Friedman also picked up his fourth WSOP bracelet and now has almost $2 million in winnings from the WSOP and $3.4 million from live tournaments.
Speaking after his win, he said: “It’s really amazing. I didn’t expect this. I just wanted to have a shot to be able to do something that no one else has done in the 53-year history of the World Series and to do it in this event is pretty fantastic. Once people play the dealer’s choice, they always keep coming back. This $10k is so much different from every other $10k event because if you look at every other tournament, there’s been a less percentage drop off compared to every other event. People that play in this tournament – they want to play in it again and again because it’s so addicting. There are so many games you don’t get to play in other events … so many thought processes and strategies. It’s such a unique tournament.”
Final results:
| 1 | Adam Friedman | $248,350 |
| 2 | Phil Hellmuth | $153,493 |
| 3 | Jake Schwartz | $107,861 |
| 4 | Carol Fuchs | $77,437 |
| 5 | Mike Matusow | $56,826 |
| 6 | Andrew Kelsall | $42,646 |
| 7 | Matt Glantz | $32,746 |
| 8 | Mike Gorodinsky | $25,741 |
