During the break, Phil Hellmuth was pacing around in between the tables, alone with his thoughts. Alone, that is, except for the single railbird who was still sweating the break. From the far corner of the tournament area, he yelled:
"You got 'em right where you want 'em, Phil. And when you win that bracelet, all them No-Limit Hold'em haters can stick it up there asses. Number twelve, baby!"
A smirk came across Hellmuth's face as he continued to pace in silence.
We've got 14 players left, and among them are spread a whopping 33 bracelets. That's right. Thirty-three. Hellmuth and Chan are responsible for the lion's share of those with 11 and 10 WSOP titles, respectively. That whole table, though, is awfully gilded. In fact, everyone at Table 280 has at least one bracelet with Brandon Cantu (2), Steve Sung (1), Hasan Habib (1), Nick Schulman (1), and defending champion David Baker (1) all sitting together in the WSOP's VIP section.
Of our 14 remaining players, only Benjamin Parker, Chino Rheem, Bertrand Grospellier, and Joe Cassidy are still hunting for their first bracelet.
Brandon Cantu opened to 18,000, and Phil Hellmuth three-bet shoved all in for 104,500 total. Cantu called, and he patted .
Hellmuth needed one card to go with his , and it was a long squeeze. He peeled it from the side, and he determined it was three-across hearts. A good start, but Hellmuth was still a 2:1 underdog to pull the he needed. He squeezed a little harder and determined it was either the six or the eight, and he was even money to double up. Hellmuth didn't peel the card the rest of the way; instead, he lifted it up facing forward so that Cantu could see it first.
Cantu, nervously pacing around his seat, let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes. It was indeed the , and it made Hellmuth the winning eighty-seven. He doubles to 229,500 with that timely draw, while Cantu falls all the way back to just 15,500 lonely chips.
After shipping most of his stack to Phil Hellmuth, Brandon Cantu pushed his last 14,000 into the middle. He was called by Nick Schulman in the small blind and Johnny Chan in the big blind. Schulman drew one while Chan and Cantu both took two.
Into a sidepot, Schulman bet 18,000 and Chan made the call. Schulman spread out causing Chan to send his cards into the muck. Schulman picked up the sidepot, but was unable to eliminate Cantu, who spread out and managed to pull and . Cantu tripled up but is still in the danger zone with 52,500.
In early position, Chino Rheem got his last 32,000 into the middle, and Bertrand Grospellier and Joe Cassidy were tangled up in side action heading to the draw.
Rheem and Cassidy took one card apiece, while ElkY stood pat. He checked post-draw, and he'd fold to a bet of 35,000 from Cassidy.
We'd never get to see Rheem's cards. Cassidy tabled , and his ninety-seven is good enough to send our first player to the payout desk. It's Chino Rheem who's out in 14th place, good for $24,043.
From early position Brandon Cantu moved all in for his remaining 54,000. Steve Sung made the call in the cutoff and stayed pat while Cantu drew two.
Cantu had and was off to a promising pull when he first turned over a , but sadly paired up when he flipped over another . The pat of Sung eliminated Cantu and sent him home in 13th place. Sung is now around 370,000.
Phil Hellmuth opened the pot with a raise under the gun, and he was called by Hasan Habib (button) and Johnny Chan (big blind) to go three-handed to the draw.
Everybody took one card, and Hellmuth continued out with another 42,000 chips. Habib took pause for a moment, and he cut out the calling chips. He then added another 75,000 to the bet and slid it all across the line for a raise to 117,000. Chan quickly folded, and Hellmuth quickly got grumpy. He stared across the table for a moment, then slapped his cards face-up on the felt. A few of them turned over, and the dealer grabbed Hellmuth's hand and mucked it.
"Here, show him the f***in' hand," Hellmuth said, grabbing the cards out of the muck. "I want him to see what he bluffed me off of." The dealer re-mucked them rather quickly, so Hellmuth announced it. "Nine-six smooth, baby. Unbelievable."
Habib is up to about 345,000 now, while Hellmuth falls to 220,000. As we write this post from half an Amazon Room away, we can still hear Hellmuth giving it to Habib.
"Hasan!"
And then a minute or so later...
"Hasan Habib. Make me muck a nine-six."
And then a minute or so after that...
"I finally pick up a nine-six and you have to bet me off it."
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
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, and it was a long squeeze. He peeled it from the side, and he determined it was three-across hearts. A good start, but Hellmuth was still a 2:1 underdog to pull the 
he needed. He squeezed a little harder and determined it was either the six or the eight, and he was even money to double up. Hellmuth didn't peel the card the rest of the way; instead, he lifted it up facing forward so that Cantu could see it first.
and 
