Hellmuth Falls Short of 12th Bracelet; Jelinek wins 1st

So close, and yet so far.

Phil Hellmuth entered the final table of the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha High-Low tournament looking for his twelfth World Series of Poker bracelet, which would expand his lead over Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson to two in the race for the most all-time bracelet wins. But it was not to be, as Hellmuth busted out on seventh place, and Steve Jelinek was instead able to win his first ever World Series event.

While Jelinek may not be a household name, he’s had considerable success in tournament poker, and the prize money he earned in this tournament – he’ll take home $245,871 – isn’t even the largest cash he’s ever had. That honor still goes to his 6^th place finish at the 2007 European Poker Tour’s Grand Final, for which he earned over $400,000.

Still, there’s nothing that can compare to winning your first bracelet, and Jelinek had to fight through a difficult final table to do it. Heading into the final table, one name stood out above the crowd: 11-time bracelet winner, Phil Hellmuth.

Hellmuth entered the final day of play as one of the chip leaders, but found himself in trouble early at the final table. With eight players remaining, Hellmuth found himself near elimination twice, but both times caught just the cards he needed on the river to stay alive.

Unfortunately for Hellmuth, his luck wouldn’t last much longer. The “Poker Brat” moved all-in in the small blind, and was called by eventually runner-up John Gottlieb, who held AAQ8 against Hellmuth’s AT32. Hellmuth did not improve, and had to settle for winning $30,633 and 7^th place.

But the day belonged to Jelinek, who battled for over three outs against Gottlieb. While Jelinek had the chip advantage most of the way, Gottlieb was able to slowly make progress until he had nearly equalized the stacks. But when Jelinek – still with a narrow chip lead – got Gottlieb to gamble on one hand for all the money, it was the Englishman who came out on top.

Jelinek’s win was the 5th by a player from the United Kingdom this year, a fact which he himself pointed out after the win.

“It’s an honor,” said Jelinek. “I know England is doing extraordinary over here, so I’m proud to win another bracelet for them.”