Rabinowitz Denies Hellmuth a Record 18th WSOP Bracelet

Rabinowitz wins WSOP Event #99 and halts Hellmuth’s record chase

Darren Rabinowitz captured Event #99: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em at the World Series of Poker in Horseshoe Las Vegas, earning $695,256 and the second WSOP bracelet of his career. The bigger headline, of course, was Phil Hellmuth falling short of what would have been a record-setting 18th bracelet.

That combination made the final day feel bigger than a standard summer title. Whenever Hellmuth is deep in a bracelet event, the story expands beyond prize money and into legacy, record books, and the pressure that comes with trying to become the first player to hit a milestone nobody else has reached.

Inside Event #99 at the 2026 WSOP

The $5,000 8-handed No-Limit Hold’em event drew 884 entries, creating a $4.07 million prize pool. Seventy-two players returned for the final day, and from there the field collapsed quickly toward a champion, as it usually does in a high-stakes bracelet event where every stack decision changes the shape of the table.

Hellmuth arrived at the final table as the chip leader with 10,000,000 chips, having already outlasted players such as Adam Hendrix, Cliff Josephy, Joseph Cheong, and Brian Rast. Watching from the rail were his sons, Phillip III and Nicholas, both of whom had played full schedules of their own this summer, along with Martin Kabrhel.

How the heads-up battle swung back and forth

The WSOP streamed the heads-up match live on X, and the broadcast drew more than 7,000 viewers. Rabinowitz entered the duel with about a 2:1 chip lead, but Hellmuth immediately reminded everyone why a chip deficit is never the same thing as being out of the game.

One of the key hands saw Hellmuth turn a straight to beat Rabinowitz’s flopped two pair, a swing that pushed the legend into the lead and gave the match a sudden new rhythm. From there the stacks seesawed, and by the final break of the night the match had tightened again before Rabinowitz began to pull away.

On the last hand, Rabinowitz moved all-in on the turn, and Hellmuth made the call for his tournament life with the inferior hand. The river changed nothing, and the bracelet went to Rabinowitz.

Final table results from Event #99

• 1. Darren Rabinowitz — $695,256
• 2. Phil Hellmuth — $464,286
• 3. Nicholas Palma — $326,136
• 4. Joshua Stewart — $232,570
• 5. Nick Pupillo — $168,402
• 6. Victor Li — $123,846
• 7. Max Kingstone — $92,527
• 8. Connor Belcher — $70,245
• 9. Josh Norvock — $54,204

For Rabinowitz, this was the kind of breakthrough result that reinforces a player’s standing in the toughest live arena in poker. For Hellmuth, it was another near miss in a summer that had been relatively quiet by his standards.

Expert analysis: what this result means for poker players

This final table is a good reminder that chip leverage and heads-up discipline matter as much as reputation in late-stage tournament poker. Hellmuth is one of the game’s great pressure players, but when the stacks are deep enough for maneuvering, a chip leader can still force hard decisions and control the pace of the match.

• A lead in heads-up play is a weapon, but only if you keep applying pressure.
• One big made hand can flip momentum, but not necessarily the match.
• In bracelet events, emotional control matters when the swings get loud and the rail gets bigger.

Players who want to study these final-table dynamics can compare notes in poker school content and keep an eye on how elite grinders approach major events in poker clubs. The same strategic concepts show up everywhere from local cash games to the biggest stages in Las Vegas.

What comes next for Hellmuth and the WSOP

The result leaves Hellmuth stuck on 17 bracelets, meaning his pursuit of the all-time record continues into another summer without a title. It was still his best finish of the 2026 series so far, but the wait for bracelet No. 18 goes on.

At the time of this finish, only Event #100, the $1,000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold’em, remained before the Main Event resumed at Horseshoe Las Vegas with a $10 million top prize on the line. That looming finale is exactly why WSOP bracelet races matter so much: one win can define a career, while one loss can delay history for another year.

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