2021 WSOP: Phil Hellmuth finally captures elusive 16th bracelet; Chance Kornuth clasps third career bracelet; Dylan Weisman wins first gold

Phil Hellmuth’s assault on the felt has been the talk of the town and just last night, he wowed the crowd after securing his 16th career gold bracelet. Also in the limelight were Chance Kornuth who captured his third bracelet and Dylan Weisman for his maiden victory. We’ve got those stories down below.

The 52nd Annual World Series of Poker has been rousing the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas since September 30. To date, 30 out of the 88 bracelets have been claimed plus three to WSOP.com online winners and roughly $46 Million paid. Games are ongoing through November 23. For those that haven’t heard the good news, the US will lift travel ban restrictions starting November 8. To accommodate late comers, the WSOP has revised its Main Event schedule. Two Day 1 flights have been added – Day 1E on November 8 and Day 1F on November 9.

*Information collected from WSOP.com, PokerNews live updates, and The Hendon Mob

Event #31: $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw – PHIL HELLMUTH – US$ 84,951

Win or no win, as long as Phil Hellmuth is on the felt, the spotlight follows. From the first time he won his first gold bracelet in 1989 until today, Hellmuth has continuously demonstrated his mastery of the game. Revered as one of the greatest poker players of all time, he boasts an incredible collection of 15 bracelets, the most won by any player in the history of the series. And just last night, he seized the elusive 16th bracelet at Event #31: $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw. While every win is special, this is one he will surely treasure as it was his first victory under this variant, one he has been chasing for some time.

Of his previous attempts, the closest he reached was 2nd place in 1993 and in 2011. Interviewed by PokerNews, Hellmuth shared,

“I’ve wanted a deuce-to-seven bracelet ever since the 1980’s because it was the coolest bracelet to win. It’s the one tournament that Chip, Doyle, and all the big named poker players showed up for. I’ve been fighting so hard for this bracelet for so long, and my game has gotten better and better. I’ve worked really hard at it and I know all these tricks because I’ve been playing since the eighties. It feels really good.”

Emotional!! Since 1990’s I’ve been wanting a @WSOP 2-7 No Limit Lowball Draw Bracelet because of the vibe Chip Reese @TexDolly Billy Baxter @ItsJohnnyChan Bob Stupak and crew brought to the event each year. I had a 2nd vs Billy and a 2nd vs John Juanda. Tonight I finally won one! pic.twitter.com/LBbI611D6P

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) October 18, 2021

Aside from the win, Hellmuth has been an absolute beast in the series with three prior final tables. He placed 6th at Event #2: $25,000 H.OR.S.E., placed 5th at Event #9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, and 4th at Event #19: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship. With those impressive results, it was just a matter of time before he would grab that next gold. Hellmuth currently holds the series record of four final tables reached, just surpassing Jason Koon who sits with three.

For the past 15 months, Hellmuth has also dominated the No Limit Hold’em Heads Up PokerGO High Stakes Duel. Last year, he swept Antonio Esfandiari in three rounds for US$ 700,000. This past summer, he took on Daniel Negreanu with both players exchanging verbal jabs prior to the match. Hellmuth cleaned him out in three rounds for another US$ 700,000. His last match was against Nick Wright where he reigned once again to collect US$ 100,000. With Hellmuth running smoking hot and more than a month still left in the ongoing series, it is possible we may see more outstanding results and possibly another bracelet or two. Hellmuth moved up to second rank in the 2021 WSOP Player of the Year race.

Briefly recapping his latest victory run, the event pulled in 272 hopefuls for a prize pool of US$ 363,120. Among the players in the crowd but missing the money round were two time series winner / 4x bracelet winner Anthony Zinno, 4x bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi, and 2x bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski. Cashing in were decorated players John Racener (40th), Brian Rast (39th), Yuval Bronshtein (32nd), John Monnette (26th), Jeremy Ausmus (24th), and 2013 Main Event champion Ryan Riess in 9th place.

At the final table, three players boasted bracelets, 3x winner Rep Porter, and 2x winners Kevin Gerhart and Christopher Vitch. For Vitch and Jake Schwartz, it was their second final table in this series. Also in the round were 2019 Main Event runner up Dario Sammartino, and 2x ring winner Joshua Faris. Sammartino started with the chip lead and Hellmuth was running second. The leader proceeded to lose two pots to Porter to exit 6th. Despite the boost, Porter couldn’t keep it intact and fell to Schwartz in 4th place. Hellmuth eliminated Vitch (3rd) to enter heads up on a deficit against Schwartz. Initial action was dominated by Schwartz but after one uncalled push awarded Hellmuth a big pot, he overtook and proceeded to grind down Schwartz for his 16th WSOP title and gold bracelet. He now has over US$ 25.2 Million in tracked live tournament earnings. For Schwartz, it was another close but no cigar moment. At the earlier Event #20: $1,000 Flip & Go NL Hold’em, he also finished in 2nd place.

Date: October 15 to 17
Buy in: US$ 1,500
Entries: 272
Prize pool: US$ 363,120
ITM: 41 places

Final table payouts

1st Phil Hellmuth – USA – US$ 84,951
2nd Jake Schwartz – USA – US$ 52,502
3rd Christopher Vitch – USA – US$ 36,387
4th Rep Porter – USA – US$ 25,661
5th Joshua Faris – USA – US$ 18,421
6th Dario Sammartino – Italy – US$ 13,463
7th Jason C Lipiner – USA – US$ 10,023
8th Kevin Gerhart – USA – US$ 7,602

Event #29: $10,000 Short Deck NL Hold’em – CHANCE KORNUTH – US$ 194,670

Highly decorated Chance Kornuth added a third gold bracelet to his collection after winning Event #29: $10,000 Short Deck NL Hold’em. One may say this was redemption for his 4th place finish at the same event back in 2019. The three day event attracted 66 runners for a prize pool of US$ 615,450. Kornuth pocketed the biggest wad worth US$ 194,670 to further balloon his multi million dollar career earnings.

Looking at his other successes, this past summer Kornuth shipped The Wynn Summer Classic $3,500 NL Hold’em for US$ 353,981 and the DeepStack Championship Poker Series $1,600 NL Hold’em MSPT Event for US$ 412,068. Going further back, he won his first WSOP bracelet in 2010 at the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha for US$ 508,090 and locked up his second in 2018 at the $3,200 WSOP.com Online No Limit Hold’em for US$ 341,599. Other weighted wins include the Bellagio Cup X $10,00 NL Hold’em for US$ 526,224 and 2016 Aussie Millions A$25,000 NL Hold’em Challenge for A$ 790,560 (~US$ 547,873). To date, Kornuth has over US$ 8.7 Million in live tournament earnings.

The event gathered up a decorated lineup that included 9x bracelet winner Erik Seidel, 6x bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu, 3x bracelet winner Ben Yu, and recent winner Jason Koon. However, each one failed to reach the money round. On the flip side, first to cash was China’s Ye Shen who topped the Day 1 counts; bracelet winner Stephen Chidwick finished 8th, bracelet winner Joao Vieira was on his second final table having placed 3rd at Event #18: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball and got as far as 5th, high stakes player Dan Shak took 3rd, leaving the title to come between Kornuth and Chad Campbell. The chase ended in a cooler with Kornuth landing a full house on a board that dusted Campbell’s straight . This was Kornuth’s first ever victory in this hold’em variant.

Date: October 14 to 16
Buy in: US$ 10,000
Entries: 66
Prize pool: US$ 615,450
ITM: 10 places

Payouts

1st Chance Kornuth – USA – US$ 194,670
2nd Chad Campbell – USA – US$ 120,316
3rd Dan Shak – USA – US$ 82,678
4th Moshe Gabay – Israel – US$ 58,601
5th Joao Vieira – Portugal – US$ 42,885
6th Thomas Kysar – USA – US$ 32,437
7th Young Ko – USA – US$ 25,386
8th Stephen Chidwick – UK – US$ 20,583
9th Rene Van Krevelen – Netherlands – US$ 20,583
10th Ye Shen – China – US$ 17,311

Event #28: $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8-Handed – DYLAN WEISMAN – US$ 166,461

Every player at the final table of Event #28: $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8-Handed was seeking their first dream gold and in the end, it was Dylan Weisman lifting the coveted bracelet and a chunky US$ 166,461 payout. Based on his tracked stats, this was Weisman’s maiden victory and largest career takedown.

The event drew 1,069 runners for a prize pool of US$ 951,410. Leading up to his win, Weisman eliminated Youness Barakat (8th) and Manan Bhandari (7th) to bag a massive stack at the end of Day 2 which he proceeded to carry all the way to the finish line. After eliminating Alexander Yen (3rd), he faced Craig Chait for the title backed by an overwhelming 11:1 advantage. He sealed the deal with full house over on a board . Other notable players in the money were series winners Michael Perrone (12th), Dylan Linde (92nd, 6x bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (140th), and Asia Pacific players David Wang (19th), Jungwoong Park (24th), and Kosei Ichinose (26th) .

Date: October 14 to 16
Buy in: US$ 1,000
Entries: 1,069
Prize pool: US$ 951,410
ITM: 159 places

Final table payouts

1st Dylan Weisman – USA – US$ 166,461
2nd Craig Chait – USA – US$ 102,884
3rd Alexander Yen – USA – US$ 74,239
4th Tim Vanloo – Austria – US$ 54,230
5th Ran Niv – Israel – US$ 40,109
6th Chase Fujita – USA – US$ 30,040
7th Manan Bhandari – USA – US$ 22,787
8th Youness Barakat – USA – US$ 17,510
9th Karen Sarkisyan – Russia – US$ 13,632

Here’s a look at some of the series numbers and achievements along with the list of bracelet winners and multi-final tables..

2021 WSOP tally

Event #1 – #31 prize pool: US$ 46,174,155
Online Event #1 – #3 prize pool: US$ 1,748,670
Entries: 40,588
Online entries: 1,921
Largest prize pool: Event #17: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER – US$ 7,110,210
Largest payout: Daniel Lazrus – US$ 1,000,000 – Event #17: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER
Asia bracelet winner: Pete Chen – Online Event #3: $400 NLH Ultra Deepstack
First time bracelet winners: 18 (live) / 1 (online)
Multiple final tables: 16 players (listed at the bottom)
Most final tables: Phil Hellmuth – 4

Two series wins

Anthony Zinno
Event #19: $10K Seven Card Stud Championship
Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.

Sixteenth career bracelet won

Phil Hellmuth – Event #31: No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw

Fourth career bracelet won

John Monnette – Event #16: Limit Hold’em Championship

Third career bracelet won

Ryan Leng – Event #23: $1,500 Eight Game Mix 6-Handed
Chance Kornuth – Event #29: $10,000 Short Deck No Limit Hold’em

Second career bracelet won

Jeremy Ausmus – Event #3: $1K Covid-19 Charity Relief
Connor Drinan – Event #5: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
Ari Engel – Event #9: $10K Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
Yuval Bronshtein – Event #12: $1,500 Limit Hold’em
Rafael Lebron – Event #14: $1,500 Seven Card Stud
Daniel Lazrus – Event #17: $1,500 Millionaire Maker NL Hold’em

Martin “BathroomLine” Zamani – Online #1: $5,300 NLH Freezeout
Mark “NJ_AcesmarkA” Herm – Online #2: $500 NL Hold’em BIG 500

2021 WSOP Winners

Event #1: James Barnett – USA – Casino Employees – US$ 39,013
Event #2: Jesse Klein – USA – $25K H.O.R.S.E. – US$ 552,182
Event #3: Jeremy Ausmus – USA – $1K Covid-19 Charity Relief – US$ 48,687
Event #4: Long Ma – USA – $500 The Reunion 5M GTD – US$ 514,604
Event #5: Connor Drinan – USA – $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better – US$ 163,252
Event #6: Tyler Cornell – USA – $25K HR NL Hold’em 8-Handed – US$ 833,289
Event #7: Jaswinder “Jesse” Lally – Canada – $1,500 Dealer’s Choice 6-Handed – US$ 97,915
Event #8: Zhi Wu – USA – $600 NL Hold’em Deepstack – US$ 281,406
Event #9: Ari Engel – Canada – $10K Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship – US$ 317,076
Event #10: Michael Perrone – USA – $1K Super Turbo Bounty NLH Freezeout – US$ 152,173
Event #11: Jason Koon – USA – $25K Heads-Up NL Hold’em Championship – US$ 243,981
Event #12: Yuval Bronshtein – Israel – $1,500 Limit Hold’em – US$ 124,374
Event #13: Harvey Mathews – USA – $3,000 Freezeout NL Hold’em – US$ 371,914
Event #14: Rafael Lebron – USA – $1,500 Seven Card Stud – US$ 82,262
Event #15: Bradley Jansen – USA – $1,500 6-Handed NL Hold’em – US$ 313,403
Event #16: John Monnette – USA – $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship – US$ 245,680
Event #17: Daniel Larzrus – USA – $1,500 Millionaire Maker NL Hold’em – US$ 1,000,000
Event #18: Vladimir Peck – USA – $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball – US$ 134,390
Event #19: Anthony Zinno – USA – US$ 10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship – US$ 182,872
Event #20: Dejuante Alexander – USA – $1,000 Flip & Go NL Hold’em – US$ 180,665
Event #21: Dylan Linde – USA – $1,500 Mixed PLO / Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Big O – US$ 170,269
Event #22: Lara Eisenberg – USA – $1,000 Ladies NLH Championship – US$ 115,694
Event #23: Ryan Leng – USA – $1,500 Eight Game Mix 6-Handed – US$ 137,969
Event #24: Michael Prendergast – $600 Pot Limit Omaha Deepstack 8-Handed – US$ 127,348
Event #25: Scott Ball – USA – $5,000 6-Handed No Limit Hold’em – US$ 562,667
Event #26: Dalibor Dula – Czech Republic – $1,000 Freezeout No Limit Hold’em – US$ 199,227
Event #27: Anthony Zinno – USA – $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. – US$ 160,636
Event #28: Dylan Weisman – USA – $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha – US$ 166,461
Event #29: Chance Kornuth – USA – $10,000 Short Deck NL Hold’em – US$ 194,670
Event #31: Phil Hellmuth – USA – $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw – US$ 84,951

Online #1: Martin “BathroomLine” Zamani – USA – $5,300 NLH Freezeout – US$ 210,600
Online #2: Mark “NJ_AcesmarkA” Herm – USA – $500 NL Hold’em BIG 500 – US$ 89,356
Online #3: Pete Chen – Taiwan – $400 NL Hold’em Ultra Deepstack – US$ 82,560

Multiple final tables

Phil Hellmuth
6th – Event #2: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E
5th – Event #9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
4th – Event #19: #10,000 Seven Card Stud
1st – Event #31: $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw

Jason Koon
9th – Event #6: $10,000 High Roller NL Hold’em 8-Handed
6th – Online Event #1: $5,300 NLH Freezeout
1st – Event #11: $10,000 Heads Up NL Hold’em Championship

Anthony Zinno
1st – Event #19: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship
1st – Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.

Connor Drinan
1st – Event #5: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
2nd – Event #23: $1,500 Eight Game Mix 6-Handed

Jake Schwartz
2nd – Event #20: $1,000 Flip & Go NL Hold’em
2nd – Event #31: $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw

Robert Mizrachi
3rd – Event #5: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
7th – Event #9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship

Jesse Yaginuma
6th – Online Event #2: $500 WSOP.com NLHold’em BIG 500
6th – Event 15: $1,500 6-Handed NL Hold’em

Hal Rotholz
8th – Event #14: $1,500 Seven Card Stud
6th – Event #18: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball (Limit)

Michael Gathy
3rd – Event #13: $3,000 Freezeout No Limit Hold’em
4th – Event #17: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER No Limit Hold’em

John Bunch
4th – Event #12: $1,500 Limit Hold’em
8th – Event #24: $600 Pot Limit Omaha Deepstack 8-Handed

Curtis Phelps
8th – Event #5: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
7th – Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.

John Racener
6th – Event #16: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship
6th – Event $25: $5,000 6-Handed No Limit Hold’em

Jonathan Jaffe
4th – Event #6: $25K HR NL Hold’em 8-Handed
3rd – Event $25: $5,000 6-Handed No Limit Hold’em

Craig Mason
7th – Event #13: $3,000 Freezeout NL Hold’em
7th – Event #25: $5,000 6-Handed No Limit Hold’em

Joao Vieira
3rd – Event #18: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball (Limit)
5th – Event #29: $10,000 Short Deck No Limit Hold’em

Christopher Vitch
10th – Event #9: Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
3rd – Event #31: $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw

*Information collected from WSOP.com, PokerNews live updates, and The Hendon Mob.

Stay tuned to Somuchpoker as we bring you updates and recaps throughout the series.