Home / Poker News July 2008 / Phil Hellmuth’s WSOP feud with the Q,10 comes again. This time he survives.
Phil Hellmuth’s WSOP feud with the Q,10 comes again. This time he survives.
Posted by: James Carter. - Sun, 2008-07-13 16:45
Phil Hellmuth’s fans are probably all familiar with the problems the above named starting hand had caused him in past WSOP events. In 2002, Hellmuth was sent to the rail by Robert Varkonyi’s Q,10. Fuming over how his opponent had overplayed a relatively weak starting hand, Hellmuth swore then to have his head shaved if Varkonyi ever went on to win the event. In typical fashion, not only did Varkonyi win that year’s Main Event, his final hand was a Q,10 of all things. Hellmuth allowed him to shave his head off then. Today, he had another run-in with the hated starting hand. An opponent of his connected it with a board of 9,6,J,8,2 for a straight, and had Phil doing laps around the table in desperation and disgust.
This time though, the story would have a different follow-up. The hit taken, Hellmuth still had enough chips left to swing back into the action and rebuild his stack.
More Day 4 action saw Bertrand Grospellier’s pocket kings tackle Anthony Zinno’s A,Q. In a situation once so colorfully described by Phil Hellmuth, Zinno’s dominated hand connected with an A on the turn, sending the Starcraft champion to the rail in 370th.
Johnny Chan took a hit which eventually cost him his tourney life when he pitted pocket 5s against Damien Creurer’s A,10. The latter made a flush, and although Chan still had some chips left he busted out a few hands later 329th. With that elimination, Phill Hellmuth became the only surviving WSOP champion in the field.
Peter Biebel, another previous chip leader met his end at the hands of Steve Billirakis, when his pocket 4s ran into the latter’s pocket 5s. Van Nguyen, Tracy Nguyen and Evelyn Ng were eliminated next. Jon Turner wouldn’t make it to the dinner break either, as he succumbed to Albert Kim’s flush.
Day 4 would be called off soon after the dinner break. Only one level was played after dinner, but it was enough to send Glenn Cozen and Steve Billirakis to the rail too.
Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow, Allen Cunningham and Chip Jett were all among the survivors, together with Kido Pham, Alex Outhread and Matt Lessinger.
