Phil Hui Wins 2019 World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship

For serious mixed-game players, the World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship is the marquee tournament of the year. While the WSOP main event may offer more notoriety and money, the PPC remains one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world. Winning this high-stakes event requires needs proficiency at eight of the most commonly spread poker variants while competing against the best mixed-game players that poker has to offer.

This year Phil Hui emerged victorious from a field of 74 players to win the 2019 PPC title. The 31-year-old former golf professional turned poker player earned his second career gold bracelet and the first-place prize of $1,099,311 as the champion. He will now have his name inscribed on the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy.

“This is my dream. I’d rather win this over the main,” said Hui after emerging victorious. “This is incredible, you have to be well versed in every game. It’s a dream come true. Definitely, this is the one tournament I want to win and play. This is only the second time I played it. Just to be lucky enough to play it, it’s incredible.”

Hui climbed into second place in the WSOP’s Player of the Year race as a result of the win. This was his ninth cash of the series, with three final table finishes and this title.

“I want to win player of the year this year. That was my main goal going into the series this year," said Hui regarding the POY race at the series. "I was going to play everything I could and try to make deep runs. So POY is first on my list.”

Hui was also awarded 714 Card Player Player of the Year points for coming out on top in this event. This was his second title and tenth final-table of the year. It was enough to catapult him into 35th place in the 2019 POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.

The final day of this event began with Hui sitting in third chip position among the remaining six players. Josh Arieh held the overall lead, which he quickly furthered by knocking out Dan “Jungleman” Cates in sixth place ($168,305) early on at the final table.

Four-time WSOP bracelet winner Shaun Deeb was the next to fall when his two pair got scooped by the wheel and a six-high straight held by John Esposito. Deeb took home $232,058 for his latest run at the WSOP.

Bracelet winner Bryce Yockey began the day second in chips, but found himself as the shortest stack with four remaining. He looked to be in fantastic shape to start a comeback when he got dealt a 7-6-4-3-2, the second best possible hand in triple draw deuce-to-seven lowball. He got in three bets before the first draw against Arieh, who kept the 6-5-3.

With both a six and a five in his hand, Arieh had to specifically make a straight first in order to be forced to discard his 6 to even have shot at making 7-5-4-3-2, the only hand that could best Yockey’s 7-6 perfect. Arieh did just that, drawing a Q-2 on the first draw and then ditching the queen for a four. With his straight made, he then managed to exchange his six for a seven to improve to the nuts.

Yockey could not believe that his pat ‘number two’ had been run down by Arieh in what live stream analyst and two-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman called, “The worst beat I’ve ever seen in a televised tournament.” Yockey looked in shock as he was knocked out in fourth place, earning $325,989 for his run.

Arieh continued to surge, overcoming John Esposito’s pocket aces with a flopped two pair in pot-limit Omaha to send him home with $466,407. Arieh took 16.2 million into heads-up play against Hui, who started with around 6 million.

The final heads-up match lasted over five hours, with multiple lead changes along the way. In the end, Huo was able to take a decisive lead by scooping a massive stud eight-or-better pot to leave Arieh with less than a big bet. Arieh managed to find two double ups, but the third time was the charm for Hui, who had made a 9-5-4-3-2 after two draws. Arieh had outs with the 6-5-2 with one draw remaining and picked up a 3 with his first replacement card. His final card of the event was an A. With that Arieh was eliminated in second place, earning $679,246.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

For more coverage from the summer series, check out the 2019 WSOP landing page, complete with a full schedule, results, news, player interviews, and event recaps.

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