Phil Hellmuth's bid for an 18th bracelet ended in the first level of the day on Wednesday, pushing him out the door in 14th place of the Poker Player's Championship.
It was a whirlwind trip through the 2026 PPC for the still 17-timer. He arrived late on Day 2, but Hellmuth tripled the starting stack before day's end to finish just outside the top ten.
Hellmuth battled through Day 3 and into the money before starting Wednesday with one of the bottom stacks. He was chasing players like Phil Ivey, Josh Arieh, and Benny Glaser, who has started to pick up some steam on Day 4.
Relaxed Day 5
The penultimate day started out with a sense of calm, and it did stay that way for Hellmuth, who didn't last long. The returning 15 players quickly busted one player to set up the final two tables of seven, and that's where Hellmuth's story ends.
Joining Phil at his final table was Arieh, who was reminiscing about an old episode of Poker After Dark. Paul Volpe and Chris Hunichen were there, too, sat on both sides of the dealer and talking about the World Cup game being projected on the far wall.
Canada was losing to the Swiss, and that seemed good for Ivey, who was chipping up in the opening level with one eye on the game.
Arieh was talking about Hellmuth's foul mood in the aforementioned Poker After Dark episode, but today was anything but foul. Hellmuth was chipper, and he sat down with a half-eaten hot sandwich and a cup of coffee.
For the most important tournament of the year, everyone was pretty chill.
Phil finds his spot
Two uneventful games passed, No-Limit 2-7 and Stud, before Hellmuth found his spot in 2-7 Triple Draw.
Hellmuth raised and Glaser called, with the former drawing two and the latter drawing one. Glaser check-called the draw and they both drew one.
The two exchange bets again and stood pat on the final draw. Hellmuth's chips went into the middle and he turned over 
, a pretty good hand. But Glaser showed 
for something slightly worse and Hellmuth was out.
Hellmuth stood up and he was obviously annoyed, but he gave everyone a hearty handshake and made his way to the door.
Action continues with 13 players left on the first break of Day 4 at the $50K PPC, and they will play to a final table on Wednesday night. Glaser is building a lead after the first level of the day, but Volpe is right behind. Ivey, who is also an upward trend, remains in the top five chip counts.
2026 Poker Player's Championship top 5 chip counts (after Level 18)
- Benny Glaser - 5.3M
- Paul Volpe - 4.1M
- Kristopher Tong - 3M
- Phil Ivey - 2.9M
- Nick Guagenti - 2.7M
