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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:19 p.m., Sunday, July 13, 2008

Phil Hellmuth eliminated from World Series of Poker

By OSKAR GARCIA
Associated Press

DAY 10 (OFFICIALLY KNOWN AS DAY 6)

BIG NEWS: Phil Hellmuth was eliminated from the World Series of Poker main event on Sunday, ensuring that the no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament will have a new champion.

Hellmuth, who won the main event in 1989 and has won a record 11 events at the world series, pushed in his last 405,000 chips with an ace and a queen but found himself up against the jacks of New York poker player Andrew Rosskamm.

Hellmuth had an ace-high flush draw after the turn, the fourth community card. But a two of spades fell on the river, and Hellmuth was eliminated in 45th place. He won $154,400.

STUD OF THE DAY: Tiffany Michelle, an actress and poker player from Los Angeles, who started the day in fifth place and won pot after pot on Sunday, building a stack of more than 5 million chips. Michelle was one of two women remaining in the tournament at the start of play Sunday. The other, Lisa Parsons of Franklin, Tenn., quickly busted out. Tournament officials estimate that 209 women played in the main event this year. The last time a woman made the final table was in 1995, when Barbara Enright finished fifth of 273 players, winning $114,180.

BUSTED OUT: 11-time gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, H.O.R.S.E. final table player Victor Ramdin, 2004 gold bracelet winner Thomas "Thunder" Keller, onetime chip leader Jeremy Joseph.

UP NEXT: On Monday, the 27 players remaining will play as long as it takes to determine the main event's final table.

POKER TALK: Check in the dark: When a player announces he will make no bet to start the round as the dealer turns over the flop, turn or river. Checking in the dark can confuse opponents about the strength of a player's hand. David Saab of Melbourne, Australia, checked in the dark as the dealer turned over an ace, king and eight on the flop. Joe Bishop of Cincinnati also checked, and called bets by Saab on the turn and river. Bishop won the hand with an ace-queen for a pair of aces.

HE SAID WHAT?: "This could be it, honey. ... Really scary stuff, but I'm not giving up." — Phil Hellmuth, complaining to his wife that each time he picked up a hand Sunday, an opponent hit a larger hand when they should have folded before seeing the flop.

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LAS VEGAS — Phil Hellmuth was eliminated from the World Series of Poker main event today, ensuring that the no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament will have a new champion in November.

Hellmuth, who won the main event in 1989 and has won a record 11 events at the world series, pushed in his last 405,000 chips today with an ace and a queen and found himself against the jacks of New York poker player Andrew Rosskamm.

Hellmuth, who was a slight underdog in the hand, had an ace-high flush draw after the turn, the fourth community card. But a two of spades fell on the river, and Hellmuth was eliminated in 45th place. He won $154,400.

"I never win a coin flip at the world series," said Hellmuth, the last remaining main event winner in the tournament field. "And I don't play coin flips because I'm the best."

"That's the first time I've been (all-in) in like two days," Hellmuth said.

Play started Sunday with 79 players remaining from a starting field of 6,844 players. Four hours into play, 35 rounders had been eliminated. Tournament spokesman Seth Palansky said the field would be whittled down to 27 by the end of the day.

On Monday, the 27 remaining entrants would play down to the final nine. A champion won't be crowned until November, as the tournament planned to take a four month break before playing the final table.

The title was worth $9.12 million, and the top eight players will win at least $1.28 million. Players paid $10,000 to enter the tournament.

Hellmuth spent much of his day short-stacked at his table, but was able to get up to 1.6 million in chips within the first hour of play.

Hellmuth complained that each time he picked up a hand, an opponent who should have folded earlier hit a larger hand once the community cards came out.

"Really scary stuff, but I'm not giving up," he said.

Hellmuth, nicknamed "Poker Brat," met with tournament director Jack Effel and commissioner Jeffrey Pollack before play began Sunday after he blew up at another player for calling Hellmuth's raise with a bad starting hand.

Hellmuth was assessed a one-orbit penalty, meaning he would have had to sit out play Sunday for the first round of action around the table. But tournament officials decided the penalty was too excessive and gave Hellmuth a warning instead.

"In this instance, the punishment did not fit the crime," Pollack said. "Phil has now been warned and put on notice in a way that he has never been."

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On the Net:

World Series of Poker: www.wsop.com