Mere days after Phil Hellmuth climbed a big poker hill, winning the Poker Night in America-presented King of the Hill heads-up competition, the player is vying for another major poker accomplishment.
The Poker Brat, as we all call him as a term of endearment and a term that best describes his fiery attitude at the poker table, informed his Twitter followers that he will be taking part in the upcoming WPT Legends of Poker $4,000 Main Event at The Bicycle Hotel & Casino in Bell Gardens, California. Hellmuth has already arrived in the popular poker destination and has made a tour around the host venue, remembering that one time in the early days of his terrific poker career when he took down the 4th Annual Diamond Jim Brady $10,000 Main Event. That happened in August 1988 or precisely 29 years ago.
Walked to Asian Rest in @BicycleCasino and…deja vu! Stumbled upon the exact location where I won Bike’s Main Event in 1988 #PHSerendipity
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) 25 August 2017
The Bicycle Casino is a favorite poker spot to poker pros from around the US and the rest of the world, so there is no doubt that we will be presented with nothing less but quality poker action over the next week. But first things first, let us glance at the epic heads-up battle between Hellmuth and his younger, but almost equally mouthy opponent, Daniel “Jungleman” Cates everyone in the poker world is talking about.
A Heads-Up Clash of Titans
The King of the Hill heads-up poker event gathered together four of the world’s best poker players in the world, with those being Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Cates, Doug Polk, and Frank Kassela. The competition took place over two days. On the first day, Cates beat Kassela in around ten minutes to qualify for the final and face Hellmuth, who defeated Polk.
The final match was one of epic scale, everyone would easily admit that. Chips swung back and fourth, until Cates took a massive lead over Hellmuth and maintained it for quite some time. At one point, Hellmuth was so short on chips that it seemed he would not survive for long. However, doubt not in the Poker Brat’s abilities to make a shocking comeback. The man has 14 WSOP gold bracelets, after all.
A very successful bluff was what took Hellmuth to improve significantly and turn the course of the whole game. It was not long after that Cates was eliminated and Hellmuth scooped the $200,000 prize and the winner’s belt.
It is yet to be seen whether the player will manage to win another big poker title in such a short period of time.
About WPT’s Legends of Poker Main Event
This year’s WPT Legends of Poker $4,000 Main Event is set to take place from August 25-31. The event will kick off with three starting flights played over three separate days. Registration for the tournament will remain open until the start of Day 2. The official six-handed final table will be played on Thursday, August 31.
The tournament attracted 687 entries last year, with those generating a prize pool of $2,465,643. Local player Pat Lyons took down the event for a first-place prize of $615,346.
