Phil Hellmuth has won a lot of things in his career, including 17 WSOP bracelets, but incredibly, a World Poker Tour (WPT) title has remained elusive.
He got close again this week, making Day 3 of the WPT Venetian Fall Championship, with just 29 players left.
He returned to the felt with 18 big blinds to work with – heaps for a player with five decades' worth of tournament experience – but his day ended in frustration as he was eliminated in 20th for a payout of $22,200.
It seemed like the poker gods were clearing the path for him. He made quads twice in the tournament but he couldn't win the all-important final flip with 
against Nick Pupillo's 
, with the board running out 
.
Along the way, the Poker Brat made an appearance, but today's livestreamed final table will have to do without his own unique brand of entertainment.
Pupillo made good use of Hellmuth's chips and he leads the final table, with Matt Affleck fourth in chips. Here are the chip counts for Tuesday's 11am PT restart with $446,800 up top.
- Nick Pupillo: 8,525,000
- Daniyal Gheba: 5,725,000
- Nick Yunis: 4,600,000
- Matt Affleck: 3,250,000
- Craig Mason: 1,775,000
- Anthony Piacquadio: 1,625,000
Quads once, quads twice
Talking afterward, Hellmuth said, "Very disappointing, man, poker can be a little frustrating... When I get to play six hours against a $5,000 field, or any field, it feels like I have a great chance to chip up. People are playing too aggressive, too many hands. It was a little frustrating."
"I don't want to get into the complaining mode too much, I don't want to be a victim," Hellmuth added.
To help him out, we'll detail the two times Hellmuth made quads in the tournament.
After entering the field on Day 1B, Hellmuth picked up a sizable pot when he quads.
The 
board saw Hellmuth bet on the flop and then checked back the turn. When his opponent fired a bet on the river, Hellmuth check-raised and got called.
"Quads," he announced, tabling his 
.
The deck eventually stopped cooperating with Phil Hellmuth in his quest for a first World Poker Tour title.Despite the infusion of chips, Hellmuth was eliminated from play shortly after – but he jumped right back into the mix on Day 2.
And then he made quads again.
Facing an under-the-gun raise from Keith Lehr, Hellmuth three-bet from the small blind. Lehr called to see the 
flop.
Both players checked the flop, and the came on the turn. Hellmuth bet small and Lehr called.
The 
river completed the board and Hellmuth bet again, but Lehr sent his cards into the muck – and his decision to do so was immediately vindicated as Hellmuth rolled over 
.
Close calls in the past
Since the WPT launched in 2002, Hellmuth has made the final table five times but has come up short in each one.
In 2017, he finished runner-up to Art Papazyan in the WPT Legends of Poker $4,000 Main Event, coming agonizingly close to a first title only to see it slip away at the last gasp.
Art Papazyan won two World Poker Tour titles in 2017. For Hellmuth, the wait goes on. Will he ever find the WPT trophy that has eluded him in his career so far?
You can watch today's final table livestream from 12pm PT across all WPT channels.
Images courtesy of World Poker Tour.
