If poker players were Gods, and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) was Olympus, then Phil Hellmuth would be Zeus. And yet, I doubt there is any repentance in the mind of Besim Hot, more like impiety, as the man from Switzerland ended Hellmuth’s run at a 16th gold bracelet.
Event #10: €25,500 Mixed Games Championship attracted 45-entrants, and for 44 of them, the gold bracelet became more stinging nettle than dot leaf. The three-time WSOP bracelet winner, Benny Glaser, led the final 21 players at the end of Day 1, including Player of the Year chasers Shaun Deeb, Phil Hui, Daniel Negreanu and Robert Campbell.
By the end of Day 2, seven players emerged from burning hot coals, all within a shot of an origin story hitting the headlines. Hot was in charge, Glaser was hanging by a thread, Hellmuth looked healthy, and Negreanu was the only Player of the Year in-waiting left in the field.
Let’s see how Hot did it.
Final Table Seating
Seat 1: Dzmitry Urbanovich – 7,425,000
Seat 2: Julien Martini – 4,475,000
Seat 3: Besim Hot – 15,795,000
Seat 4: Phil Hellmuth – 5,495,000
Seat 5: Benny Glaser – 2,750,000
Seat 6: Alex Livingston – 4,005,000
Seat 7: Daniel Negreanu – 5,315,000
The Nutshell Action
Mixed-games is Benny Glaser’s religion. Variety is in his bones. And the three-time bracelet winner, doubled up early on Day 3 when he got the better of Julien Martini, and Daniel Negreanu in a hand of Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, but it still left him woefully short of any serious challenge.
Shortly after resumption of play at the end of the first break, Alex Livingston nearly amputated Martini from the table during a hand of Limit Hold’em that saw the Frenchman folding to a flop bet on As9s2c, leaving him only four big blinds. Martini then doubled up through Negreanu in a hand of Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better.
Martini’s well-timed injection of hope would ultimately hand him a couple of pay jumps. Livingston became the first player to leave the final table. The WSOP Main Event finalist gave his chips to Hot after failing to find the better hand in Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better.
Martini continued to scrap and scrape, doubling through Negreanu in a hand of 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw, holding a 7x5x4x3x2x, and Glaser did likewise through Phil Hellmuth in a hand of Seven Card Stud, making a straight versus the airball of the 15-time WSOP champion. Then the Englishman doubled through Hot during a hand of Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better.
Negreanu’s pursuit of a seventh bracelet remained intact when he doubled through Glaser in a hand of Razz, but it wasn’t enough to keep him in the game, as Hellmuth elbowed his fellow titan out of the competition in the same game a few hands later.
Chip Counts
- Besim Hot – 15,400,000
- Phil Hellmuth – 14,400,000
- Dzmitry Urbanovich – 6,950,000
- Benny Glaser – 4,930,000
- Julien Martini – 3,900,000
Martini will have mixed feelings on his final table experience. The Frenchman would have loved to have run deeper, but vaulting two pay jumps after being reduced to chip dust is sure to bring a sense of satisfaction. The bracelet winner exited at the hands of the only person remaining never to win a bracelet, Urbanovich – the Pole shoving him into the rail after a game of Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better.
Urbanovich then made a hermit out of Glaser when the pair locked horns in a hand of No-Limit Hold’em. Glaser got it in holding Jc8s, and Urbanovich called and won with pocket nines, but it wasn’t enough steam for the Pole. Hot and Hellmuth continued to strangle the life out of the table, and it was Hellmuth who eliminated Urbanovich in third place during a hand of Razz.
Heads-Up
The Tale of the Tape
Besim Hot – 24,075,000
Phil Hellmuth – 20,925,000
Hot created a 2:1 lead after winning hands in Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha. Then a chasm emerged between the two players after Hot won back-to-back pots in Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better.
Hellmuth doubled his stack during a hand of 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw, but Hot pulled ahead with wins in No-Limit Hold’em and Seven Card Stud. Hellmuth added more chips to his stack in a hand of Razz, but it wasn’t enough. During a hand of Pot-Limit Omaha, Hot raised to 750,000 on the button, and Hellmuth made the call. The flop fell Tc9h9c, Hellmuth checked, Hot bet 500,000, and Hellmuth check-raised to 2,000,000. Hot moved all-in, and Hellmuth called.
Hellmuth: Ah9d4h3c
Hot: QcJs9s7h
Hellmuth was ahead with trip nines and the ace kicker. Hot also had trip nines with a queen kicker.
The turn was the Jc, to improve Hot’s hand to a boat, and the 4c on the river was as safe as Swiss house, and Hot had the bracelet, and not Hellmuth.
Final Table Results
- Besim Hot – €385,911
- Phil Hellmuth – €238,509
- Dzmitry Urbanovich – €162,463
- Benny Glaser – €111,689
- Julien Martini – €77,502
- Daniel Negreanu – €54,287
- Alex Livingston – €38,389