WSOP released its 2025 schedule on Monday, and Phil Hellmuth fired a shocking video tweet explaining that for the first time since 1998, he won’t be playing the WSOP Main Event.
Hellmuth is the King of WSOP royalty with a record-breaking 17 gold bracelets. He also achieved a feat that most players would dream of winning both the WSOP Main Event in 1989 for $755,000 before shipping the 2012 WSOP Europe Main Event for €1,022,376.
“The Poker Brat” also followed up, saying the WSOP’s deep structure of seven days straight of playing 12 hours of poker transformed the world’s most prestigious poker event into an endurance contest and shared that several players complained that they “blew up” the Main Event because they got too tired. He concluded that it is much harder for older players to compete in that environment.
Hellmuth appeared serious about his announcement, but he didn’t completely rule out competing in the WSOP Main Event next year if things change and organizers make it more of a skill game and less of an endurance game.
Last year’s WSOP Main Event winner Jonathan Tamayo supported Hellmuth’s claims about endurance.
“It is an endurance test, but the Main Event for years always is the one that lasts the longest,” shared Tamayo. “It used to be one week when no others were. At some point, my mental acuity will diminish to a point where I will be overwhelmed too; after a few years, I have realized I am no longer at my peak, and that is ok.”
Breakdown of Phil Hellmuth’s Record 17 WSOP Gold Bracelets
| Year | Event | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship | $755,000 |
| 1992 | $5,000 Limit Hold’em | $168,000 |
| 1993 | $1,500 No Limit Hold’em | $161,400 |
| 1993 | $2,500 No Limit Hold’em | $173,000 |
| 1993 | $5,000 Limit Hold’em | $138,000 |
| 1997 | $3,000 Pot Limit Hold’em | $204,000 |
| 2001 | $2,000 No Limit Hold’em | $316,550 |
| 2003 | $2,500 Limit Hold’em | $171,400 |
| 2003 | $3,000 No Limit Hold’em | $410,860 |
| 2006 | $1,000 No Limit Hold’em with rebuys | $631,863 |
| 2007 | $1,500 No Limit Hold’em | $637,254 |
| 2012 | $2,500 Seven-Card Razz | $182,793 |
| 2012E | €10,450 No Limit Hold’em Main Event | € 1,022,376 |
| 2015 | $10,000 Seven-Card Razz | $271,105 |
| 2018 | $5,000 No Limit Hold’em | $485,082 |
| 2021 | $1,500 No Limit 2–7 Lowball Draw | $84,851 |
| 2023 | $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em | $803,818 |
*Images courtesy of WSOP
