Powered by his trademark start-of-play lunch that included a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, a banana, and a bottle of water, 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth has chipped up to make the final table of the $10,000 Limit Omaha 8 or Better Championship.
Oh, and quads. Those helped too.
Day 3 of the first Championship event of the 2026 World Series of Poker began with 15 returning players, but shortly into the second 90-minute level of the day, the field was down to its final table of eight.
At that point, it was led by four-card phenom Dylan Weisman, but after a solid start to the day, Hellmuth moved up to fifth overall in his quest for bracelet number 18.
Started from the middle
The Poker Hall of Famer began the day ranked seventh of the 15 returning players, but things changed fast thanks to a turned full house that left 14th-place finisher Rob Hollink drawing dead before Hellmuth made quad eights on the river. A few moments later, a sizable pot against James Obst pushed Hellmuth as high as fourth with 12 left.
Hellmuth then scored his second elimination of the day, sending Josh Arieh to the rail in 9th to set up the final table of eight, with Hellmuth sitting fifth with about 1,400,000 chips at limits of 50,000/100,000. Weisman’s leading stack was just over 3,000,000.
The final table is Hellmuth’s 76th of his WSOP career, and it is worth $41,334 so far. But the bracelet and $450,176 will be going to someone on Tuesday. Could it go to the always-seen 17 to claim number 18?
Stay tuned. We’ll be on the floor to capture Hellmuth’s latest run at history.
