It wasn't Max Pain Monday, but Phil Hellmuth certainly felt some measure of pain after he bubbled a nine-player Sit & Go on Hustler Casino Live on Monday night.
The event, sponsored by Karate Combat, saw Hellmuth joined at the table by eight other players, including: two former UFC Middleweight fighters Uriah Hall and Luke Rockhold, President of Karate Combat Asim, Tik Tok-er and HCL frequenter Bryce Hall, YouTuber and co-host of Impaulsive Podcast Mike Majlak, and GGPoker Ambassador Jeff Gross.
The atmosphere at the table started light and friendly, with plenty of drinks fueling both the action and the table talk. As the blinds rose through the night, Hellmuth put his short stack skills to use to make it to the final four, but his luck ran out on the direct bubble in a multi-way pot.
Hellmuth, with , limped in for 3,000 UTG -- committing half of his remaining chips. The others followed suit and the big blind checked his option to send all four of them to the flop. After the blinds checked to him, Hellmuth stuck in the last of his stack with his flush draw and Gross made the call with , good for two pair. Hellmuth needed to spike a diamond or running two pair to stay alive, but the turn and provided no help.
Hellmuth may have bubbled, but he handled the loss with grace, offering fist bumps and GGs in the aftermath. Meanwhile, despite imbibing perhaps one too many drinks, Gross managed to pull away with the chip lead from there and rode his inebriated momentum all the way to victory.