Five years ago, 14-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth had just captured the WSOP Europe Main Event in Cannes, France, becoming the only player to win both main events in Las Vegas (1989) and Europe. With 10 cashes in 2012, including four final tables and two bracelets (he also won the $2,500 Seven Card Stud in Las Vegas), Hellmuth was poised to win a title that he truly coveted: 2012 WSOP Player of the Year (POY).
In 2011, Hellmuth came agonizingly close to WSOP POY but finished runner-up to Oklahoma native poker pro Ben Lamb, after Lamb's November Nine third-place finish.