Phil Hellmuth Already Has Two Final Table Appearances and Three Cashes in 2026
Phil Hellmuth is off to a sizzling hot start to 2026, and he's doing it in the PokerGO Studio against top high rollers.
The "Poker Brat" continues to prove he can hang with the younger pros, as the 61-year-old Poker Hall of Famer has already racked up two final table appearances and three cashes this year. And we're barely a week removed from 2025, Hellmuth's worst year of tournament poker since 2009.
Poker Legend Cruising Early in 2026
Hellmuth, who holds the record with 17 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, only cashed for $289,960 last year, according to The Hendon Mob database. That included a pedestrian WSOP performance with no bracelets and just one final table appearance.
The BetRivers Casino ambassador has already nearly matched his 2025 tournament earnings just nine days into 2026. He reached two final tables — ninth place and fourth place — in the PGT Last Chance Series through the first three events, all $10,100 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournaments.
In Event #5: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em on Friday, he secured his third cash, and he can thank Nick Seward for the assist. Hellmuth was down to just over eight big blinds on the bubble with 18 players remaining. Seward, holding pocket jacks, went all in against Stephen Song's king-queen, and the pocket pair held up, leaving Song with just one big blind.
He'd be eliminated moments later, ensuring Hellmuth would earn another cash. The poker legend took fourth place for $98,100 in Event #1 and fifth place for $70,200 in Event #3. A min-cash in Event #5 is worth $17,550. He would go out in 17th place just after the bubble burst in a three-way pot with 6♠6♥ to Kristen Foxen, who had 7♥7♣. Sergio Aido, holding A♠Q♠, was also eliminated in the hand, a 16th-place finish for $23,400, as the board ran out J♦J♣2♣3♥8♥.
Landon Tice quickly followed to the exits in 15th place ($23,400). Connor Rash held the chip lead at the time of publishing with 14 players left. The tournament will play down to a winner on Saturday.
Hellmuth's son, Phillip Hellmuth III, also reached a final table in the past week with a 10th place finish for $3,600 in a $600 Monster Stack World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) event at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. The younger Hellmuth's father reached a final table on the same day, right across the street.
Hellmuth's early-2026 heater comes just a few weeks after Shaun Deeb predicted the 1989 world champion would never again win another WSOP bracelet. Three deep runs to start the year in non-WSOP events don't prove Deeb wrong. But they do prove the "Poker Brat" is far from washed up.
The PGT Last Chance Series wraps on Sunday with the final table of Event #6: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo. The PGT Championship $1 million freeroll kicks off on Monday at the PokerGO Studio.
