Phil Hellmuth has once again made history by winning another bracelet in his career. This time around, he took down the Event #71 of the 2018 WSOP, $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em (30-minute levels). The 53-year old poker pro, who is already regarded as the all-time leader in World Series of Poker titles, defeated a field of 452 entries and took away a whopping $485,082 first-place prize.
Speaking on his achievement right after the win, Hellmuth said. “It means everything. I want to be remembered in two ways: 1.) For having won 24 bracelets, and 2.) For starting the positivity movement.”
Interestingly, Hellmuth has released a book titled, ‘#POSITIVITY’, which is a result of his strong realization of the impact he has on his fans.
Adding more Hellmuth said, “It’s humbling. I haven’t had a very good summer, but I’ve kept myself positive.”
“Every night I come back to the room, saying, ‘Life is good, relax. Life is good, relax.’ … Before this tournament, I called my wife and said, ‘Honey, I’m not sure I want to play this event. She said, ‘Get in there in play.”
It was the third final table of the year for him. It earned him his 15th bracelet win and positioned him at 70th place in the 2018 POY race.
Hellmuth started the final day eighth in chips with 39 players remaining. By the time, the final table was set, he extended his lead and secured the second place in chips and was just behind only Alan Sternberg. He kept on building his stack without having to knock out any of his opponents at the final table through to heads-up play.
On the other hand, two-time bracelet winner Steven Wolansky took a 3-to-1 lead by busting three players to set the heads-up play against Hellmuth. In heads-up, Hellmuth fought his way back against his opponent Wolansky. Chipping up nicely, he found a big double up in an all-in preflop with his Kd-10d against Wolanksy’s Kh-Jh. Hellmuth paired his ten on the river to double his lead.
The game then took no time to declare the winner as Hellmuth called all-in with 3s-3h against Wolanksy’s Ad-9s . The board ran 9s-3c-2h-6d-8h forcing Wolanksy to settle for the 2nd place prize $299,807.
Final Table Payouts:
| Place | Player | Earnings (USD) |
| 1 | Phil Hellmuth | $485,082 |
| 2 | Steven Wolansky | $299,807 |
| 3 | Alan Sternberg | $204,789 |
| 4 | Aliaksei Boika | $142,458 |
| 5 | Kenneth Fishman | $100,956 |
| 6 | Matthew Glantz | $72,911 |
| 7 | Paul Hoefer | $53,682 |
| 8 | Ralph Wong | $40,309 |
| 9 | Eric Hicks | $30,881 |