Another Phil from Madison wins World Series of Poker event
A guy named Phil from Madison won a World Series of Poker event in Las Vegas on Monday.
But it's not who you think. It wasn't famed poker superstar Phil Hellmuth, the "Poker Brat" whose 11 WSOP titles and 64 cashes are the most ever.
Phil Galfond, a 23-year-old described as a "poker pro who concentrates mostly on cash games," earned $817,781 and a coveted WSOP championship gold bracelet for winning the $5,000 entry Pot-Limit Omaha game with re-buys, according to a news release.
Ironically, Galfond's first WSOP victory came against a historically strong final table that included Hellmuth and three other WSOP bracelet winners -- Johnny Chan (10), Daniel Negreanu (4) and John Juanda (3) -- with a combined 28 victories among them. That eclipsed the previous all-time record set in the 2006 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship when there were a combined 27 victories among the nine finalists.
"It was such a tough final table lineup," Galfond said, according to the WSOP release. "That's what makes winning this so much better."
The three-day event, the 28th of 54 in this year's WSOP, attracted a star-studded field of 152 entries. Players who lost all their chips paid $5,000 again to buy more chips -- called a "re-buy" in poker terms -- 483 times, increasing the prize pool to $3,085,930. The top 18 finishers collected prize money.
Prior to taking a seat at the final table, Galfond said that winning a WSOP gold bracelet would mean a great deal to him: "It commands respect from your peers."
Galfond, whose poker nickname is "OMGClayAiken," was the chip leader during most of the final table.
"I had a big chip lead, and I did not want to blow it," said Galfond, who now has four WSOP cashes. "So, the first thing I feel is relief that I did not blow the lead."
The potential dream heads-up matchup between Hellmuth and Chan, the two all-time WSOP champions who met for the title of the 1989 WSOP Main Event with Hellmuth becoming the youngest champion ever, never materialized. Hellmuth, who now resides in Palo Alto, Calif., busted out in eighth place, earning $100,292, while Chan finished fourth for $246,874.
According to the WSOP news release, while Hellmuth was being interviewed for the live ESPN260 Internet broadcast, Negreanu busted out of the tournament. As the normally long-winded Hellmuth was pontificating on what went wrong and was making predictions of his future victories, Negreanu, standing off-camera, shouted, "Hey Phil, this is not a one-hour expose!" Unfazed by the distraction, Hellmuth rambled on until the camera was finally cut off.
Negreanu made the most re-buys in the event with 16, meaning he invested $85,000 in entry fees to win $123,437 in prize money.
The star-studded field virtually ensures that the event will be part of ESPN's coverage of the WSOP, which starts July 22 and runs into November.
Other notable cashers included Chris "Jesus" Ferguson in 10th, David Williams in 16th, Ted Lawson in 17th and Eli Elezra in 18th.
The WSOP is held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.
Photo provided
Phil Galfond, 23, of Madison earned $817,781 in a World Series of Poker event in Las Vegas.
