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The Main Event at the World Series of Poker is the Super Bowl for the players who take part in it, and winning the bracelet that’s up for grabs makes you a member of a pretty exclusive club. However, it sounds like Phil Hellmuth has given up on trying to earn his second based on what he had to say while explaining why he’ll be skipping poker’s biggest event this year.
It’s been more than 55 years since Las Vegas hosted some of the best card players on the planet for the inaugural edition of the World Series of Poker, which quickly became the premier gathering for the thousands of hopefuls who flock to Sin City each year to partake in the massive event.
There isn’t a single person who’s experienced more success at the WSOP over the years than Phil Hellmuth, the legendary hothead who’s racked up 17 bracelets (along with more than $16 million in prize money) and secured his first in 1989 when he became the youngest person to ever conquer the no-limit hold’em showdown known as the “Main Event” at the age of 24.
The WSOP features plenty of other tournaments where bracelets (and the money that comes with winning them) are up for grabs; there will be 100 individual events when it kicks off at the Horseshoe at the end of May before wrapping up midway through July.
However, none of them boast more prestige (or a bigger jackpot) than the Main Event where this year’s champion could earn more than $10 million based on how many people are expected to fork over the $10,000 buy-in.
Hellmuth hasn’t been able to add a second Main Event bracelet to his unrivaled collection, and earlier this week, he announced he won’t be in the hunt for one this year in a video where he lobbied for reform while explaining why he’s decided to sit things out for the first time in close to 40 years.
I am not playing the @WSOP Main Event. It has become an “Endurance contest.”
I truly believe that 80% of the players want changes made to the @WSOP Main Event. 12 hour days, or longer, for 6-7 days in row, is brutal and disproportionately affects older players pic.twitter.com/7K4OcJOZ56
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) February 18, 2025
The man who will celebrate his 61st birthday on the final day of the Main Event described it as an “endurance test” that favors younger players with the energy and stamina to stay at the top of their game while playing for a minimum of 12 hours for seven days in a row.
Hellmuth asserted the Main Event is no longer “measuring skill,” and while he declined to go into specifics when it comes to the changes he’d like to see, he seems to think the majority of players would support tweaks that would make it less of marathon.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the powers that be decide to act.