Hellmuth made the final table of Event 7: A$2,200 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em with 266,500 chips, which puts him fifth in chips but he only trails chip leader Steve Zhou by about 50,000 chips.
“It feels really good to reach another final table,” said Hellmuth.
“It’s not necessarily unexpected, but it’s just that I hadn’t cashed in the first six tournaments. I felt like I was playing well. All I was doing was trying to manage my health. Manage my breathing.”
Hellmuth related to PokerListings earlier this week that he's actually had some respiratory problems in Australia so he may have to battle through a little extra adversity tomorrow.
N9er Bruno Politano Looks to Upstage Hellmuth
The Poker Brat isn’t the only story at the 6-Max final table as Brazilian November Niner Bruno Politano also has a shot at winning a bracelet before the big showdown in November.
Politano will face an uphill battle tomorrow, however, as he finished last in chips with a scant 65,000.
The Brazilian is the only member of the 2014 November Nine who has made the journey down to Australia for WSOP APAC.
Steve Zhou, Alexander Antonios, Michael Tran and Yu Kurita round out the rest of the final table.
While most players are playing at their first WSOP table, incredibly it's Hellmuth's 52nd time appearing on such a stage.
Although Hellmuth hasn’t won a bracelet this year he was something of a cashing machine at the WSOP in Las Vegas with seven separate cashes including two final tables, one of which was a runner-up finish to Ted Forrest.
The final table begins at 12:10 local time tomorrow.
Here are the chip counts start the day:
1. Steve Zhou - 315,000 2. Alexander Antonios - 278,000 3. Michael Tran - 274,000 4. Yu Kurita - 269,000 5. Phil Hellmuth - 266,500 6. Bruno Politano - 65,000
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