Phil Hellmuth Comes Up Short for 12th Bracelet

California poker pro Brian Rast won the US$50,000 buy-in Players’ Championship at this year’s World Series of Poker. Rast’s US$1.7 million payday was overshadowed by his heads-up opponent: Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth.

Hellmuth was in pursuit of his record-setting twelfth WSOP bracelet, but finished in second place for the third time at this year’s Series.

On the final hand, Rast hit a king-high straight on the flop while Hellmuth held a diamond flush draw. Hellmuth missed his diamond draw on the turn and river cards, giving Rast his second career bracelet at one of the most prestigious events in the Series. The hand marked the third time in their heads-up match that Hellmuth flopped a flush draw and missed.

Hellmuth took home just over US$1 million for the second-place finish.  He also took the lead in the WSOP Player of the Year race with his third runner-up finish of the series. For most players, a million-dollar payday would be a suitable consolation prize. For the driven, competitive Hellmuth, the money did little to soothe the sting of losing out on another bracelet.

For Rast, the win represents both a career achievement and his largest-ever payout. He won the US$1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Texas Holdem event last month for his first career bracelet and US$227,000 in prize money. The Players’ Championship win also bumps up his career earnings total to over US$2.7 million.

With the final preliminary event completed, the drama of the Main Event begins. Due to the overwhelming demand, the event will be split into four Day Ones and two Day Twos.  The first Day One starts today, without such luminaries as Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey.

Check back with GamblingPlanet for continuing updates on the 2011 World Series of Poker.