Phil Hellmuth’s Blows Up At 2019 WSOP, Ends In ‘Positivity’

The 2019 World Series of Poker is about to enter Week 2 but it is important for the poker community to remember some of the highlights of Week 1 as there were plenty of moments keeping the poker community all pumped up and entertained, and perhaps a little intrigued.

Some of the incidents that took place during Week 1 caused a lot of attention on social media. In the final table of the $50K High Roller event, Sam Soverel committed an “unintentional” mistake during a crucial hand which ultimately sent Russian pro Dmitry Yurasov to the rail. The top prize of $1,484,085 went to British player Ben Heath.

And then there was the Chance Kornuth-Phil Hellmuth clash which started in the same event, leading to the Poker Brat’s first blowup of the summer.

How The Clash Started

Chance Kornuth and Phil Hellmuth were seated at the same table in Event#5 $50K high roller, with both players battling it out during an interesting hand. Hellmuth was able to defend his big blind against a middle position raise from Kornuth. The Poker Brat check-called the Kh4s4c flop, and again check-called on the Js turn, with the river being 3s. He quickly called when Kornuth fired an almost pot-sized bet, leaving him with just a few big blinds.

In the process, Hellmuth could be seen doing his usual antics, mumbling some choice words under his breath. Kornuth also decided to be outspoken and responded to Hellmuth. Soon after, both players were throwing some pretty sarcastic words against each other, with their argument pointing towards which player deserved to win the pot.

Positivity Wins

While both players did not come out with a first place win, they have had a good start to the 2019 WSOP. Kornuth managed to make the final table of the $50K high roller, eventually claiming the sixth spot for $251,128, and then two days later he finished fourth in the $10,000 Short Deck event for $93,593.

The Poker Brat may have busted twice in the $50K high roller, but he was able to reach his first final table of the summer in the $400 WSOP.com Online No-Limit Hold’em, finishing fifth for $39,460.

It didn’t take long before the two crossed paths again and decided to put their spat behind them. Hellmuth, who is popular for his #positivity campaign, posted a photo of him and Kornuth together on Twitter, congratulating the latter for making two final tables in two days.

Sweet! @ChancesCards makes two @WSOP Final Tables in two days!!! Great job Chance! #POSITIVITY #CKNiceLife pic.twitter.com/kcSkGsiZpU

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) June 5, 2019

The two poker players will keep things positive as they look to win a WSOP gold bracelet in Week 2.