Will anyone beat Hellmuth's bracelet record?
Barry Carter doesn't think Phil Ivey will overtake the Poker Brat's bracelet record, but offers some suggestions of players who might.
This year Phil Hellmuth won his 14th WSOP bracelet. At age 50 he is not going to be playing poker forever, but he still has time to extend his lead.
There are plenty of players who boast a lot of bracelets, but many of them are well past their prime in terms of age. There is no doubting their ability, but there are only around 70 bracelet events a year, the fields are big and time is a crucial factor.
Hellmuth’s is a record that may never be beaten. Critics say that he won his bracelets when poker was easier and the fields were smaller, but in fairness to Phil, half his bracelets were won in 2003 and onwards.
However, if Hellmuth’s record is going to be broken, who can do it?
Phil Ivey
Let’s start with the obvious one, Phil Ivey. Widely considered to be the best all around player in the world and with ten bracelets currently is Hellmuth’s nearest rival. Most people would argue that Ivey is the man to back in this debate.
However, I don’t think he will. At the time of writing, Ivey has been a complete no show at the series, including the $50,000 Players Championship, the event he was really expected to play. Ivey’s amazing form in bracelet events came precisely because he stood to win so much more than the first prize in the shape of bracelet prop bets. As soon as those dried up, he stopped caring about bracelets.
If he is ever able to book some significant action on bracelet bets again, or has a change of heart on their importance, I think he would overtake Hellmuth in a relatively short space of time, maybe five years. However that does not look likely any time soon, so I’m ruling him out (For now).
Daniel Negreanu
There are players with more bracelets, but of the current crop of active players, KidPoker is the most likely to overtake Hellmuth. He currently boasts six, so it would likely take him the rest of his career to beat whatever final tally the Poker Brat leaves.
Negreanu is still relatively young at just 41 years of age and (despite his detractors) is still a student of the game. He is good at every format of poker, which is a big requirement for bracelets. Finally, like Hellmuth and unlike Ivey, Negreanu seems motivated to prove he is the best. Accolades like bracelets mean a lot to him.
I believe the reason Hellmuth has so many bracelets is because he values them in more than monetary terms. I think Negreanu has that same mindset where he would likely take a bracelet over the profit in any given series.
The next generation
If someone is going to overtake Hellmuth in our lifetime they need to be young, excel at all poker variants and be highly motivated to win bracelets.
Vanessa Selbst (30), George Danzer (31) and Jason Mercier (28) all have three bracelets, and Jeff Madsen (30) has four. They all all boast bracelets in a variety of formats and seem highly motivated to win more titles.
Danzer and Mercier in particular have both expressed many times in interviews they’d take a bracelet over profit in the series. The only thing that would make me possibly discount Selbst is that she has so many interests elsewhere in law and social justice, that her career might go off in another direction (Though having said that, she has always managed to balance them all so far).
Brian Hastings is a new contender in this debate. He is just 26-years-old, is an expert in all formats and has booked a lot of action in bracelet bets. The only argument against him beating Hellmuth is, like Ivey, that if his side bets dry up, will his interest in bracelets?
Finally special mention has to go to Dominik Nitsche, who won three bracelets in three years prior to this series (and came close to four earlier this series). He is just 25-years-old and has the longest time to catch up to Hellmuth. However, his wins so far have been in No Limit and the fields are so huge that I just don’t think it is feasible unless he becomes a major force in Mixed Games (Which I’m sure he could).
If I had to put money on it, I'd go for Jason Mercier. He is young, excels at all formats and seems hyper motivated to win bracelets. Let's check back here in 20 years to see how he is getting on.
Can the record ever be broken? Who would you pick to do it? Let us know in the comments.
