Instead Italian circuit regular Fernando Cimaglia stole the spotlight as he ascended to the top of the chip counts with 170,000.
Ludovic Lacay (118,000) and Quoc Trung Nguyen (113,800) and Giacomo Fundaro (93,700) also made their way into the top 10 chip counts.
Hellmuth arrived at the Casino de Venezia Ca Vendramin Calergi in a classic Venetian get-up with a mask, tuxedo, black cape and silver cane, flanked by the Royal Flush Girls.
The Poker Brat took a gold gondola on the Grand Canal to get to the casino during the second to last level of play on Day 1b.
It turned out to be an anti-climatic appearance for Hellmuth as he barely lasted a level and ended up busting with top-pair and a weak kicker.
Here’s a look at the top 10 chip counts after Day 1b of WPT Venice:
1. Fernando Cimaglia – 175,000 2. Massimo Mosele – 132,500 3. Simone Ferrettl – 122,600 4. Ludovic Lacay – 118,000 5. Quoc Trung Nguyen – 113,800 6. Francesco Delfanco – 100,000 7. Ivan Gabriell – 97,900 8. Roberto Begnl – 96,200 9. Giacomo Fundaro – 93,700 10. Jorgen Paullsch – 93,000Guillaume Darcourt, Galen Hall Eliminated on Day 1b
Phil Hellmuth certainly wasn’t the only player to bust on Day 1b as 49 of the starting 108 players were all relegated to the rail.
Galen Hall, Guillaume Darcourt, Giovanni Rizzo and Dario Sammartino were among the numerous players who busted.
The 108 players that entered Day 1b brought the overall field size up to 173 players. The remaining players are competing for a $576,74 prizepool with $180,097 dedicated to first-place.
Poker pros Max Pescatori, Dario Alioto, Andrey Pateychuk, Liv Boeree, Alessandro Longobardl all booked their ticket to Day 2.
All the remaining players in WPT Venice will meet under the same roof for the first time tomorrow as action recommences at 14:30 (CET).
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