2007 World Series of Poker

Event 54 - $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball w/ rebuys
Day: 1
Event Info

2007 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Prize
$538,835
Event Info
Buy-in
$5,000
Level Info
Level
19
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
20,000

Hellmuth Arrives So Late He's Nearly Eliminated

Phil Hellmuth just arrived at the tournament a full 2 1/2 hours late to discover he was nearly down to the felt after being blinded off for the duration of his absence. Naturally, Phil wasn't pleased. Since Hellmuth was a pre-registered player, he'll have to begin play after the break with the 1,150 he has left in his stack, rather than the 8,200 late-registration players were permitted to start with (a fresh 10,000 stack minus three rounds of blinds and antes totaling 1,800).

In essence, the players who arrived late and did late registration were afforded an unfair advantage over the players, like Hellmuth, who elected to pre-register.

Had Hellmuth's last chips been anted off before he arrived at the Rio, he would have been eliminated from the tournament and not permitted to rebuy. So, in effect, our unscheduled break due to the controversy ended up saving Hellmuth.

Tags: Phil Hellmuth