A brutal river card sent Phil Hellmuth home on Day 3 of the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event short of the money.
The Poker Hall of Famer joined defending champion Jonathan Tamayo and Johnny Chan among the past winners who've been felted on Tuesday. Tamayo lost a race, and Chan, who lost heads-up in the Main Event to Hellmuth in 1989, had his stack dwindled to nothing. But neither of those poker greats went out in such a cruel fashion as the "Poker Brat" did on the feature table.
Hellmuth and his son, Phillip Hellmuth III, both advanced to Day 3. Neither family member, however, still has chips. Hellmuth III battled with a below-average stack and couldn't spin it up. The elder Hellmuth started the session with 75 big blinds. That stack shrunk through the first level, and then he'd lose it all thanks to one unfortunate hand that aired on the PokerGO and PokerStars livestreams.
Michael Zulker, with the blinds at 1,500/3,000, opened to 6,500 with Q♠Q♦from a stack of 138,000. Action folded around to Leon Sturm, who called with 8♠8♣, aka "Snowmen," before Hellmuth looked down at A♠K♦and announced an all-in for 93,000.
Zulker went into the tank, considering the call, as Hellmuth told the American player, “I already folded ace-king for 10,000 more today.” After several minutes, he made the call, leaving himself 44,500 behind and putting the poker legend at risk.
The flop came out 3♠4♣J♦, offering no help to Hellmuth. But the K♣on the turn gave him top pair and a huge lead, leaving Zulker drawing thin. Only two queens could save him, and the Q♣had already been folded; that meant only the Q♥could help.
It came on the river.
The one-outer gave Zulker a set and knocked Hellmuth out of the 2025 Main Event before the Day 3 dinner break, in the cruelest of ways.
Hellmuth refrained from having one of his trademark meltdowns and reacted calmly, standing up, grabbing his jacket, and leaving the table silently with a wry smile on his face.
The BetRivers Casino ambassador hasn’t cashed the Main Event since 2015, but he has eight cashes in the tournament lifetime, three off the record held by Chan and Allen Cunningham.
The 17-time bracelet winner has a few more chances to extend his bracelet record before the 2025 WSOP concludes. He’s cashed in eight tournaments this summer with his deepest run being a third-place finish in Event #47: $2,500 Limit Omaha 8/Stud 8.
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