Daniel Negreanu Busts Phil Hellmuth On Day 4 Of 2015 World Series Of Poker Main Event

Phil Hellmuth had a chance this year in the main event, but the 14-time bracelet winner fell by the wayside at around 5:30 p.m. local time on Saturday in 417th place.

According to the WSOP live updates, Hellmuth’s last hand began with him betting 20,000 from the hijack, and an opponent calling in the small blind. Daniel Negreanu three-bet to 56,000 from the big blind. Hellmuth four-bet all-in for 295,000 in total, the small blind mucked, and it was on Negreanu. He quickly called, saying “I think we have the same hand.”

They didn’t.

Hellmuth tabled the Q Q, while Negreanu flipped over the A K. It was a classic race, but it was rather unusual to see two of the most cautious players in the whole tournament in this spot. The hand was only for about 650,000 in chips, or 81 big blinds, though.

The run-out was not very dramatic, as the flop of K 9 3 put Negreanu way out in front. The J on the turn did give Hellmuth a gut-shot straight draw, but he bricked when the 5 hit the river.

Negreanu vaulted to 817,000 after the hand.

According to Hellmuth, it was his first coinflip of the tournament. He also implied that queens were at the bottom of his shoving range and Negreanu was kind of lucky.

Great player @RealKidPoker said, "I think we have the same hand" as he called my 4 bet for 250,000 w A-K. Luckily for him I had only Q-Q

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) July 12, 2015

Negreanu also took to his social media to comment on the hand.

Bitter sweet. Just busted my buddy @phil_hellmuth with AK against his QQ. He is a fun guy to play with. Good for poker when he goes deep.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) July 12, 2015

Hellmuth had some tough table draws during the main event, which included getting paired with Phil Ivey on day 1. Hellmuth doubled up Ivey at one point.

Five former main event champions were alive at the start of day 4. After Hellmuth’s elimination, only 2005 champ Joe Hachem and 1993 champ Jim Bechtel remain.

Here are Hellmuth’s main event cashes since winning it in 1989:

2015: 417th for $21,786
2009: 436th for $25,027
2008: 45th for $154,400
2003: 27th for $45,000
2001: 5th for $303,705
1997: 21st for $21,200

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2015 WSOP landing page, complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

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