A Look Back at the 2011 Poker Player’s Championship
Last year, this very event attracted 128 players and created a prize pool of $6,144,000. The lion's share of that, a juicy $1,720,328, went to Brian Rast, who defeated Phil Hellmuth in heads-up play to capture the title. Here is a look at the last hand of that tournament as reported in last year's blog:
Hand #217
Phil Hellmuth had the button, and raised to 400,000. Brian Rast called, and the dealer fanned 
. Rast led for 500,000, and Hellmuth moved all in.
Rast stood up. "I'm sorry Phil, I have the nuts. I call."
Rast: 
Hellmuth: 
"One more fade!" Rast's rail chanted. "One more fade!"
The turn was red, but the 
changed nothing. Hellmuth couldn't look, Rast had his head in his hands, and the room fell silent.
The 
completed the board, and ended the tournament.
Rast's friends jumped over the wall and onto the stage, jumping up and down in celebration. After things calmed down, Rast and Hellmuth shook hands.
"If I were you, I'd tip that dealer a million," Hellmuth told Rast.
Hellmuth will have to settle with a third runner-up finish at the 2011 World Series of Poker, and of course his $1,063,034 in prize money.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Rast | $1,720,328 |
| 2 | Phil Hellmuth | $1,063,034 |
| 3 | Minh Ly | $665,763 |
| 4 | Owais Ahmed | $482,058 |
| 5 | Matt Glantz | $376,750 |
| 6 | George Lind | $300,441 |
| 7 | Scott Seiver | $243,978 |
| 8 | Ben Lamb | $201,338 |
| 9 | Jason Lester | $168,529 |
| 10 | Vladimir Shchemelev | $168,529 |
| 11 | Jeff Lisandro | $143,400 |
| 12 | Yan Chen | $143,400 |
| 13 | Josh Arieh | $124,723 |
| 14 | Michael Binger | $124,723 |
| 15 | Barry Greenstein | $108,503 |
| 16 | Sebastian Ruthenberg | $108,503 |