Helmut Phung Wins World Series of Poker Europe €550 Pot-Limit Omaha Bracelet

Helmut Phung is the latest player to win a World Series of Poker gold bracelet in 2022. The 30-year-old German player defeated a field of 566 total entries to come out on top in the WSOP Europe €550 buy-in pot-limit Omaha eight-max event, earning the hardware and $55,132 in prize money.

This was the largest live tournament score yet for Phun, whose previous top cash was a $4,073 payday earned for a 16th-place showing in a €2,000 WSOP International Circuit event in Holland.

In addition to the money and the title, Phung was also awarded 420 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his first-ever POY-qualified score.

This event featured two starting flights and then two more days of action. The top 86 finishers made the money, with notables that cashed including Allen Kessler (79th), two-time bracelet winner Anson Tsang (70th), World Poker Tour champion Matthew Wantman (41st), two-time bracelet winner Yuval Bronshtein (14th), and two-time ring winner Martin Kabrhel (9th).

Phun came into the final day as the chip leader. He soon busted the talkative Czech native, Kabrhel, making trip deuces to scoop the pot and set the official final table. Misel Bosancic was the next to fall, with his flush draw failing to overcome the flopped broadway straight of Pascal Foged. Bosancic earned $€5,210 as the eighth-place finisher.

Bartlomiej Staszczak’s run came to an end when he got all-in with a suited ace and connected cards facing the pocket jacks of Andreas Zampas. Staszczak flopped a pair of aces, but Zampas hit a set to take a big lead. He held through the river to send Staszczak home in seventh place ($6,815).

Despite earning that knockout, Zampas was ultimately the next to fall. He got all-in with A877 facing the QJ99 of Jakob Madsen. The larger pocket pair played in the end, sending Zampas packing with $9,078 for his sixth-place showing.

Phung scored his next knockout when the chips went in on a flop of J92. Phung held top pair with an open-ended straight draw facing the pocket queens of Gregory Sellam. The turn 4 was a blank, but the 8 river gave Phung two pair for the win. Sellam was awarded $12,310 for his fifth-place finish.

Jakob Madsen got all-in with top pair, a gutshot, and a queen-high flush draw leading the bottom pair, a higher gutshot, and jack-high flush draw of Martin Almaas. The turn saw Almaas spike a ten to make a jack-high straight to take the lead. The river was a blank and Madsen was sent to the rail in fourth place ($16,987).

Pascal Foged got the last of his short stack in preflop with AKQ5 facing the 9543 of Phung. The chip leader flopped trip threes and turned the wheel. Foged had outs with a straight flush draw, but missed everything on the river and was eliminated in third place ($23,848).

Heads-up play began with Phung holding roughly a 3:1 chip leader over Almaas. The final hand saw both players flop a flush. The chips went in on the turn with a board of A104A. Phung held K966, while Almaas was in rough shape with 8776. The Q on the end locked up the pot and the title for Phung, with Almaas earning $34,051 for his runner-up showing.

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

Winner photo provided by WSOP.

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