Phil Hellmuth Makes Third World Poker Tour Final Table
March 12th, 2010
Phil Hellmuth hopes the third time is the charm on the World Poker Tour
The TV table of the World Poker Tour’s Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament is now set, and all eyes are on the man sitting second in the chip counts.
Phil Hellmuth, the 1989 WSOP Main Event champ and winner of another 10 WSOP bracelets since then, entered yesterday’s action at Bay 101 with the chip lead and a bounty on his head. By the end of the grueling 15-hour day he would sit in second place and stand as the only remaining Shooting Star in the field thanks to the eliminations of Scotty Nguyen, “Miami” John Cernuto and Chau Giang.
As well as things went for Hellmuth, they went even better for Andy Seth, known online as “BKiCe.” He entered the day in third place behind Hellmuth and Hasan Habib and lingered behind the leaders for much of the long day, but toward the end he was able to pick up some big dominating hands in perfect spots and as a result he jumped ahead of the pack. He even managed to tangle with Hellmuth once he’d secured the lead and come out the better for it.
If Hellmuth were to win this tournament he would bank $878,500. That would move him up on spot on the all-time money list to fourth place, jumping past Scotty Nguyen but still trailing Jamie Gold, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey. Of course, the Poker Brat will have to get through some pretty tough competition – and overcome some history – if he wants to win this final table. He has previously made two W
PT final tables – the 2003 World Poker Finals and the 2008 LA Poker Classic – but never finished better than third place. He also hasn’t won an open-field tournament since his last bracelet win at the 2007 WSOP.
The TV table is set to begin filming at 4 p.m. PT today, and Phil Hellmuth fans (there are still a few of those, right?) can get updates on his progress from the World Poker Tour live updates crew.
WPT Bay 101 TV Table Chip Counts
Andy Seth – 2,164,000
Phil Hellmuth – 1,433,000
Dan O’Brien – 1,129,000
McLean Karr – 1,112,000
Hasan Habib – 455,000
Matt Keikoan – 371,000
