Could we be in for one of the biggest WSOP crossbook bets of all time?
Phil Hellmuth has hit back after poker's all-time number one money-winning player Bryn Kenney dismissed him as the 'King of the Minor Leagues.'
Talking on the Digital Social Hour Podcast with host Sean Kelly, Kenney talked about the pressures of playing the highest-stakes tournaments in poker and his rise through the ranks to number one.
And Kenney wasn't interested in ceding ground to Hellmuth when asked about the 17-time bracelet winner being the "tournament GOAT."
It started off nicely enough, with Kenney saying of Hellmuth, "I mean, he's the biggest winning WSOP player, like, he has his career, which is impressive too."
But it ended with Kenney saying that he considered Hellmuth the "King of AAAs" (AAAs being the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball) and laying down a huge WSOP challenge.
Hellmuth hit back immediately on X, saying, "To me, the World Series of Poker is the 'big leagues.' Always has been, always will be. It’s aggravating to me when people lie about me and my legacy. For the record, I am winning over $1.5M in high rollers. (Easy to confirm this on Hendon Mob). You said I wouldn’t play you heads up? Where were you when I challenged the entire world to a $1.6 million heads-up challenge on High Stakes Duel?"
Hellmuth signed off with his trademark #POSITIVITY.
Kenney: Hellmuth wins against amateurs
You can watch Kenney's full take on Hellmuth in the video at the top of this article, but here's what he said.
"He [Hellmuth] has played a lot of, like, big field tournaments and has been successful in those throughout time, even winning bracelet events.
"But he's played some high rollers and hasn't really fared very well in them. And I think when you think about who are the best players in poker, if you're not competing at the highest level, you can't really be in contention for it [GOAT].
"You know, it's almost like you could be the head of some subcategory that exists somewhere else. Like, you know, WSOP, he's number one in the WSOP, okay, cool. But you know, WSOP has huge fields. What about when you play the small fields with the best players? Then you really see how good you are at poker. Year-after-year, if you're winning in those, then you're, like, standing the test of time versus the people who are at the top of their game.
"But if you're playing against mostly amateur players who are at the World Series, like, you're great at beating amateur players. It's like, you know, he could be the king of triple A or something, but he's not really in the majors, yeah... We'll give him the king of triple A."
2025 WSOP crossbook?
Kelly laughed and responded, saying Hellmuth "thinks he's the GOAT of everything," and Kenney laid down a challenge.
"I mean, he says that he is online, but he doesn't want to play me heads up. You know, if he's, if he's looking to ever make like a huge bet in the World Series, like, I'll consider playing a whole WSOP series and show him that he's not even the best of those either."
Kelly's response? "Wow!"
Now that's a crossbook we'd love to see. And, if it happens, we promise to cover it in the same unique way we did with Jeremy Becker and Landon Tice this summer, so you can follow every bit of the action.
There's been no response from Hellmuth yet on the challenge, but surely the WSOP GOAT can't pass this opportunity to prove himself on his own hunting ground?
You can watch the entire Bryn Kenney Digital Social Hour podcast episode here.
