The World Series of Poker released the summer schedule on Monday, but Phil Hellmuth made some series news of his own on Tuesday. The 17-time bracelet winner announced that he would no longer be playing the $10,000 main event.
Hellmuth won the event in 1989, cashing in for $755,000 and becoming the youngest ever at the time to win the title at just age 24. Now 60 years old, the bracelet goat says that the event has simply become an “endurance contest” that favors younger players.
“I truly believe that 80% of the players want changes made to the WSOP main event,” he noted on Twitter. “12 hour days, or longer, for six to seven days in a row is brutal and disproportionately affects older players.”
The 2024 main event was won by 38-year-old Jonathan Tamayo after the action played out over 15 days, including four starting flights, two day 2 flights, and one day off after setting the final table.
Test Of Endurance
Hellmuth has played every main event since 1988, but says he won’t be playing this year and released a video detailing why.
“It’s just too tough,” he said. “People at home are like, ‘Phil, you can play seven days in a row.’ Yeah, try it. Try getting up and playing noon until midnight seven days in a row.”
Some of those days may include playing until 2 or 3 a.m., Hellmuth noted, and that schedule can be exhausting.
“I think that really hurts the older players in a much bigger proportion than the younger players,” he said. “And I’ll say this: more great players come and tell me that they blew the main event because they got too tired with 100 left, 50 left, with 30 left. It’s turned into an endurance test. I don’t think that the World Series of Poker main event is measuring skill.”
“It’s still my favorite event in the world, don’t misunderstand me, I don’t want to miss it. But I know that I can’t do that. I’m 60 years old. I don’t think I could have done it at age 50.”
Hellmuth believes there should be scheduled days off during the main event and that 80% of the players would agree with him. He said the tournament shouldn’t be about “people getting tired and blowing up chips.”
“I hope that in 2026 there are some changes made so that we can restore more skill and less endurance,” he added. “I really hope they make those changes.”
Hellmuth hasn’t made the money in the main event since 2015, when he finished 417th. He also narrowly missed out on cashing this year in the WSOP Paradise main event, busting on the money bubble.
I am not playing the
WSOP</a> Main Event. It has become an “Endurance contest.” <br><br>I truly believe that 80% of the players want changes made to the <a href="https://twitter.com/WSOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">WSOP Main Event. 12 hour days, or longer, for 6-7 days in row, is brutal and disproportionately affects older players pic.twitter.com/7K4OcJOZ56— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) February 18, 2025
A player in his 60’s hasn’t won the main event since 61-year-old Noel Furlong took down the 1999 tournament. That event only had 393 entries. The oldest main event winners in modern history include 55-year-old Hossein Ensan (2019) and 45-year-old Damian Salas (2020).
As far as participants, 97-year-old Jack Ury still holds the record for being the oldest to play in the main event.
| Year | Entries | Player | Age |
| 1970 | 7 | Johnny Moss | 62 |
| 1971 | 6 | Johnny Moss | 63 |
| 1972 | 8 | Amarillo Slim Preston | 43 |
| 1973 | 13 | Puggy Pearson | 44 |
| 1974 | 16 | Johnny Moss | 66 |
| 1975 | 21 | Sailor Roberts | 44 |
| 1976 | 22 | Doyle Brunson | 42 |
| 1977 | 34 | Doyle Brunson | 43 |
| 1978 | 42 | Bobby Baldwin | 28 |
| 1979 | 54 | Hal Fowler | 52 |
| 1980 | 73 | Stu Ungar | 26 |
| 1981 | 75 | Stu Ungar | 27 |
| 1982 | 104 | Jack Straus | 51 |
| 1983 | 108 | Tom McEvoy | 38 |
| 1984 | 132 | Jack Keller | 41 |
| 1985 | 140 | Bill Smith | 51 |
| 1986 | 141 | Berry Johnston | 50 |
| 1987 | 152 | Johnny Chan | 30 |
| 1988 | 167 | Johnny Chan | 31 |
| 1989 | 178 | Phil Hellmuth | 24 |
| 1990 | 194 | Mansour Matloubi | 37 |
| 1991 | 215 | Brad Daugherty | 39 |
| 1992 | 201 | Hamid Dastmalchi | 39 |
| 1993 | 231 | Jim Bechtel | 41 |
| 1994 | 268 | Russ Hamilton | 46 |
| 1995 | 273 | Dan Harrington | 49 |
| 1996 | 295 | Huck Seed | 27 |
| 1997 | 312 | Stu Ungar | 43 |
| 1998 | 350 | Scotty Nguyen | 35 |
| 1999 | 393 | Noel Furlong | 61 |
| 2000 | 512 | Chris Ferguson | 37 |
| 2001 | 613 | Carlos Mortensen | 29 |
| 2002 | 631 | Robert Varkonyi | 40 |
| 2003 | 839 | Chris Moneymaker | 27 |
| 2004 | 2,576 | Greg Raymer | 39 |
| 2005 | 5,619 | Joe Hachem | 39 |
| 2006 | 8,773 | Jamie Gold | 36 |
| 2007 | 6,358 | Jerry Yang | 39 |
| 2008 | 6,844 | Peter Eastgate | 22 |
| 2009 | 6,494 | Joe Cada | 21 |
| 2010 | 7,319 | Jonathan Duhamel | 23 |
| 2011 | 6,865 | Pius Heinz | 22 |
| 2012 | 6,598 | Greg Merson | 24 |
| 2013 | 6,352 | Ryan Riess | 23 |
| 2014 | 6,683 | Martin Jacobson | 27 |
| 2015 | 6,420 | Joe McKeehen | 24 |
| 2016 | 6,737 | Qui Nguyen | 39 |
| 2017 | 7,221 | Scott Blumstein | 25 |
| 2018 | 7,874 | John Cynn | 33 |
| 2019 | 8,569 | Hossein Ensan | 55 |
| 2020 | 1,379 | Damian Salas | 45 |
| 2021 | 6,650 | Koray Aldemir | 31 |
| 2022 | 8,663 | Espen Jorstad | 34 |
| 2023 | 10,043 | Daniel Weinman | 35 |
| 2024 | 10,112 | Jonathan Tamayo | 38 |
*Ages from w50p.com
Players Divided
Some players responded in agreement, such as online poker ambassador Jen Shahade who noted that the schedule can be tough on pregnant women and those with disabilities. But others felt that adding days off would extend the tournament even more, making it even more difficult for players traveling into town to play.
.jpg "Hellmuth At PokerGO Tour Event")
“The main event structure is great,” 888poker ambassador Ian Simpson noted. “We want them to stop increasing the rake and general expenses involved in the trip.”
Several players doubted that Hellmuth would really be able to stay away from the tournament at all, with Kevin Martin saying that it would be like Michael Jordan skipping the NBA finals.
This would also do away with his customary main event entrances that have seen him dress as a racecar driver, Roman emperor, war general, circus ring leader, Gandalf, Poseidon, and even Darth Vader.
“No chance that you skip the main, your fomo (fear of missing out) will kick in by day 2 when you can still reg and you can [still] play three levels,” television writer, producer, and poker player Matt Salsberg noted. “And then if you survive one and a half more days, you’re in the money and adrenaline kicks in, plus you can nap on dinners and get massages. Man up!”
Three-time bracelet winner David Baker agreed. “I miss the 72-hour sessions at Commerce when we would make fun of people quitting after only two days straight. Now if you don’t get your gym, tan, mani/pedi and 12 hours of beauty rest each day you can’t play.”
Perhaps if the Hellmuth doesn’t play, his son Phillip will. The two recently took on some high roller events at the PokerGO studio and Phil says his son is becoming a pretty good player.
The elder Hellmuth also recently made news by signing an online poker ambassador deal with Rush Street Interactive.
What Scott said below is all true and I would add that the WSOP main event since 1970 has been a slow structure with 2 hour levels.
It is a bucket list event for many, with the grind being part of the allure.
There are only two ways to address Phil’s concerns:
1) Make it a 3… https://t.co/kpAsmc6fd6
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) February 18, 2025
The main event is perfect. It should be mentally taxing to try and win a 10000 person field. Speeding up the structure is a horrible choice and if you add days off then a lot of recreational people wouldn’t be able to come bc they just can’t take that much time off away work…
— Ben Lamb (@BenbaLamb) February 18, 2025
This is like Micheal Jordan skipping the nba finals.
Don’t do this to us Phil
— KMart (@KevinRobMartin) February 18, 2025
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) February 18, 2025
I do think it’s amazing for Phil to use his voice to at least start the conversation of why it has to be 12 hour days straight for the most prestigious tournament in the world. Like why not cut it down just a wee bit?
— Rania Nasreddine (@raniatalk) February 18, 2025
Yeah I agree that that’s not the answer. The days are already too long. If it were up to me I think I would do 90min levels, 6 levels per day. Each day is 1 hour shorter than how it is now, and by day 5 you’ve shaved off a full day of play
— Seth Davies (@Sdavies22) February 18, 2025
I am 58, play every single day during the WSOP. I love it. It’s not a problem. Make the main event 12 days, 12 hours a day for me.
— Jon Shoreman (@JonShoreman) February 18, 2025
I am not playing the
WSOP</a> Main Event. It has become an “Endurance contest.” <br><br>I truly believe that 80% of the players want changes made to the <a href="https://twitter.com/WSOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">WSOP Main Event. 12 hour days, or longer, for 6-7 days in row, is brutal and disproportionately affects older players pic.twitter.com/7K4OcJOZ56— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) February 18, 2025
I miss the 72 hour sessions at Commerce when we would make fun of people quitting after only 2 days straight. Now if you don’t get your gym, tan, mani/pedi and 12 hours of beauty rest each day you can’t play.
— David Baker (@audavidb) February 18, 2025
A) the world series is 45 days 12 hour days the main is no longer or shorter a day than any other day of play.
B) obviously the event supposedly showing the best should have an advantage for younger people. We get older we get worse, that’s life we all have to accept that. https://t.co/dIQ3T0dWgD— Scott Seiver (@scott_seiver) February 18, 2025
Just want to point out that in the last two years: I believe the latest we have ended a Main Event day has been in the 12:30am-1am range. (Phil says some nights you have to play until 2-3am, that just doesn’t happen anymore)
The addition of one day to the tournament was key to… https://t.co/6fFEy76GMm
— Jeff Platt (@jeffplatt) February 18, 2025
I can definitely attest to this. I’m in the best shape of my life and prepared extensively for the 2023 Main.
I was running 60+ minutes per session, and lifting/biking/swimming 6 days a week. I ate clean, fasted, meditated, etc.
I was cruising for 6 days, but on Day 7, I hit a…
— Alec Torelli (Poker Player) (@AlecTorelli) February 18, 2025
I agree 100% with what @phil_hellmuth says here.
Ever since my serious back issues from my herniated disks started a couple of years ago, I’ve realized how brutal these 2AM+ finishes and short turnarounds are and have reduced my play volume as a result of it—not just for… https://t.co/Ca8Y10nb7F
— Faraz Jaka (@FarazJaka) February 18, 2025
More importantly, there should be 12 hour turn around in any/all wsop events between end of day and start of play next day. https://t.co/qbYzfzDgli
— Ari Engel (@AriEngelPoker) February 18, 2025
FWIW, he’s not bluffing. He’s not grandstanding. He’s sad about it. It’s authentic. Nobody loves it more. The man has dedicated his life to the pursuit of gold bracelets. https://t.co/zspSPvcWOH
— Brian Balsbaugh (@Balsbaugh) February 18, 2025
Does this look like the face of someone skipping the main event? https://t.co/m9RkefQ6C4 pic.twitter.com/VX7rDWblI1
— Matt Kiefer (@2littlemice) February 18, 2025