Phil Hellmuth has attacked the current WSOP Player of the Year rules, saying anyone who loses money shouldn't be eligible to win the title.
The current POY leaderboard shows Alex Foxen at the top, with double bracelet winner Naoya Kihara second and 2025 POY winner Shaun Deeb third.
Deeb has made it clear that he wants to successfully defend the POY title, but after a fast start at WSOPE Prague, he had a terrible first half of the summer, which he described as the worst of his career. It was reported earlier in the summer that he had one cash to show for his first 60 bullets.
Deeb has played his way back into contention by finishing second in the 9-Game Mix and winning the Mixed Games: 8-Game bracelet.
The Mouth starts the debate
Mike Matusow kicked things off with a post on X: “I think new rules starting next year for POY are simple! If you lose money at the WSOP for the year, you’re not eligible for POY. It shouldn’t be a volume award, it should be an all around six-week award.”
Josh Arieh responded, saying, “So if I go and win three bracelets, then blow three bullets in the $250K, I’m ineligible now?”
Matusow replied, “Poker’s about making money not losing.”
Deeb’s response was withering: “Why don’t you focus on things that affect you?”
Hellmuth: ‘What are we doing?’
Hellmuth then joined the debate.
In a video posted on X, he said, “I think if you lose money at the World Series of Poker you should not win Player of the Year, what are we doing?
“Somebody brings like $2 million – it doesn’t give a normal person a chance, it’s a massive advantage to them to just fire, fire, fire, and have no regard for money.
“It’s not a fair system.
“Come on Shaun, you know it’s a massive disadvantage for the normal average person trying to win Player of the Year when they can’t risk $25Ks, $50Ks, $250Ks and throw the money around like it’s water.”
After being called out directly, Deeb responded: “It’s so funny how you move the goal posts just to shit on me each year.”
Hellmuth asked Deeb if he thought the current POY rules were fair and Deeb replied: “Yes it’s fair. There’s a reason this is the closest competition of all time, with the most contenders… The volume is open to everyone – some just prioritize it more than others.”
Negreanu weighs in
Daniel Negreanu posted a lengthy response to the Hellmuth video.
In it he wrote, “Every single sports metric across tennis, NASCAR, golf, or any other individual year long competition rewards volume… Playing more volume gives you a better chance to win.
He went on to say the cap on the number of cashes that count towards POY handles the massive volume issue already, and that POY isn’t for recreational players but “hardcore grinders.”
“Is it odd that a POY could lose money over the summer?” he asked. “Of course! It will rarely happen – but it could. A player who wins four bracelets in smaller buy-ins over a summer shouldn’t be excluded from winning POY because he bricked the bigger stuff.”
He ended by saying this year's POY race is the "best and most competitive race we have seen in ages."
This isn’t the first time Hellmuth has gone after Deeb over the POY.
Last year, just after Deeb won the Player of the Year title, Hellmuth posted to say that Michael Mizrachi or Benny Glaser should have won it.
He also inferred that Deeb had influence over the POY rules, something Deeb denied in a passionate response.
POY is not a money list
Hellmuth knows how to push buttons on social media.
He must have an annual reminder set to critique the current POY rules. He has repeatedly singled out Shaun Deeb, who has consistently argued he's simply playing within the rules.
The Player of the Year isn’t a money leaderboard. It’s about battling for points across all the WSOP bracelet events through the year.
Adding a criteria that the POY has to be a winning player is unworkable. It could lead to a player being ruled out after finishing WSOP Paradise down by just $1.
Sure, the POY currently favors volume. But re-entries – and the POY rules – are for the WSOP to worry about. All players can do is play under the rules they're given.
The POY formula is tweaked every year, and once those rules are set, it's up to the players to maximise their chances – exactly as Deeb does.
