Phil Hellmuth has had, arguably, one of the luckiest runs of his career in the last few weeks. He got six WSOP cashes, five of which were final tables, and one of which resulted in a bracelet. He certainly owes some part of that success to his undeniable and considerable talent and hard work. However, you don't get results like that without running good too.
To him, though. It is pure bad luck that his six cashes weren't seven bracelets.
He talks a big game with his #positivity shtick, but when it comes down to it, we saw how that philosophy works in practice a few weeks ago. It involves up to 47 f-bombs.
Anthony Zinno was unlucky enough to outplay Hellmuth in the $10k Seven Card Stud event, triggering a Hellmuth rant for the ages. In some viewers' view, Hellmuth crossed a few lines, and the WSOP washed its hands, saying they were unaware of what was happening on their own TV final table. The WSOP blamed the dealer and moved on.
So when Hellmuth found himself at another table with Zinno, it proved satisfying to some of those viewers-with-a-view when Zinno exacted swift and effective revenge the next time his and Hellmuth's paths crossed.
Phil wasn't even going to play the 2021 WSOP $1,500 Razz event at first. The day before kick-off he tweeted:
"Still can’t sleep, sigh…Will rest as much as humanly possible next 40 hours, then play the @WSOP $3,000 buy in Limit Hold’em tourney (can buy in as late as midnight Friday night). HURTS to miss $1,500 Razz tourney Thurs!! But, need to take care of myself."
However, it wasn't long before the itch had him again and he changed his mind about that.
Allan Kessler convinced him to flip-flop on his decision and play the razz event.
"Man! I guess @AllenKessler is right, I need to play @WSOP $1,500 Razz. Razz is my BEST tourney," Hellmuth wrote. "I’m on less than 4 hours sleep, completely exhausted, can’t even see straight, bloodshot eyes, and prob should NOT play, but I can’t fall asleep."
Adding: "Just sat down, hello Razz!"
It was to be a case of "Hello, Goodbye."
Hellmuth registered very late for the event, as he is wont to do, and found himself seated at a table with Zinno. It should be noted that for all the talk of revenge here, Zinno and Hellmuth are — at least publicly — good friends, and Zinno has said he doesn't actually hold any ill will towards Hellmuth over the $10k stud rant.
Since he'd registered late, Hellmuth's stack was short, and it wasn't long before he found himself all in.
On fifth street, Hellmuth had xx/3Q6 showing. Zinno bet into him with xx/K2A and Hellmuth raised all in. Peter Neff joined them in the hand, finding himself all in too.
Zinno showed a winning 7-6-4-low on the river, beating Hellmuth's 7-6-5-low.
"That's the worst f**king play I've ever seen," Hellmuth said to Zinno. "I can tell you play Razz a lot."
His dial is set a lot lower when there are no cameras on him. Zinno went on to take 41st place.
Featured image source: Haley Hintze
