World record holding 16 times World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Phil Hellmuth once again lived up to his Poker Brat nickname when he blew up for a second time in as many weeks at this year’s WSOP.
Only two weeks ago, Hellmuth, just a matter of days before taking down the $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw event for what was his record breaking sixteenth bracelet win, the 57 year old found himself in hot water when he mock threatened to burn down the Rio, host casino of the World Series.
Now, away from the felt and in slightly less dramatic style, the Poker Brat has once again expressed his unhappiness at the manner of which something he has vested interested in is decided.
WSOP Player Of The Year
On Monday, Hellmuth took to Twitter to voice his displeasure at how the scoring for WSOP Player of the Year (POY) is awarded.
2 another player has one Final Table (3rd in online tourn) and 2,000 pts! Who cares about 10th- and 14th- and 300th place?!? Who wrote @WSOP POY 2021 rules? It’s not right. POY isn’t about cashes! I’m calling on WSOP to make it right in 2022. We need new voices to be heard…
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) November 1, 2021
So far at this year’s Series, the all time leading bracelet winner has won one bracelet and has four other final table finishes and taken $469,397 in cash.
This includes the $153,493 he picked up for his second place finish in the Event #36: $10,000 Dealers Choice 6-Handed Championship.
It is not a new argument, and many will agree with him, including the first ever WSOP POY Daniel Negreanu who also happens to be the only player to win POY twice.
Hellmuth’s main point, which is an understandable one, stems from the fact that players can min cash their into Player Of The Year contention.
Instead, he believes that the prestige of the tournament and were the most fan interest lies, and thus what the majority of points should be awarded for, should be around the final tables and bracelet wins.
On Sunday, Shaun Deeb won his 5th career bracelet when he took down the 2021 WSOP Event #53: $25,000 PLO which pulled him level on bracelets for the year with Hellmuth and one place and a few points behind him in the POY leaderboard, with the pair sitting 3rd and 4th respectively.
However, Hellmuth’s chagrin is born from the fact that he also has four final table appearances on top of his solitary bracelet, while Deeb has just the one other final table meaning his position on the leaderboard is down to his 11 overall cashes this year.
Hellmuth has never won a WSOP Player Of The Year, coming closest in points when runner up for a third time in 2012.
For the record, New Yorker Deeb, who would become only the second player to win the POY twice should he finish on top of the leaderboard, responded to Hellmuth on Twitter and unsurprisingly didn’t agree with his conclusion.
Phil poy should always be about the overall grind I have 7 more cashes than you you know how much people love to have a big name in their table in the atm buyin tourneys Wsop should do whatever they can to get the biggest names in every event it’s great for brand and Rec exp https://t.co/7GCu5pIy8s
— shaun deeb (@shaundeeb) November 1, 2021
At the start of this Series Deeb admitted he looked to the WSOP as something you grind away at every day, earning as much cash as possible.
WSOP POY Winning Formula
According to the formula, points are awarded but allocated in terms of the cost of each buy in as well as the size of the field.
There are five events - 1, 22, 52, 58 and 59 – which do not count towards points as only Open events count towards the leaderboard.
2021 WSOP POY Top 10 Leaderboard At The Time Of Writing
| Rank | Name | Points |
| 1 | Anthony Zinno | 2,627.88 |
| 2 | Jake Schwartz | 2,614.45 |
| 3 | Phil Hellmuth | 2,598.59 |
| 4 | Shaun Deeb | 2,470.69 |
| 5 | Ari Engel | 2,329.61 |
| 6 | Ben Yu | 2,226.17 |
| 7 | Dylan Linde | 2,053.09 |
| 8 | Jeremy Ausmus | 2,007.86 |
| 9 | Daniel Negreanu | 2,004.86 |
| 10 | Tommy Le | 1,968.40 |
At the time of writing, we are entering the final month of WSOP, sponsored by online poker room GGPoker, and the 2021 the POY leaderboard is really beginning to heat up.
There is currently less than 300 points separating 1st through 5th place.
Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. winner Anthony Zinno is out front right now with 2,627.88 points, on account of his two bracelet wins and six other cashes.
Zinno is one place ahead of Jake Schwartz who has amassed 2,614.45 points thanks to four final table appearances and three top three finishes.
Then come Phil Hellmuth who is being hotly pursued by 35 year old Shaun Deeb.
Phil Hellmuth 
Shaun Deeb
Last Ten Winners Of The WSOP Player Of The Year
| Year | Player | Bracelets | Final Tables Made | Cashes |
| 2019 | Robert Campbell | 2 | 6 | 13 |
| 2018 | Shaun Deeb | 2 | 5 | 20 |
| 2017 | Chris Ferguson | 1 | 4 | 23 |
| 2016 | Jason Mercier | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| 2015 | Mike Gorodinsky | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 2014 | George Danzer | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| 2013 | Daniel Negreanu | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| 2012 | Greg Merson | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 2011 | Ben Lamb | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 2010 | Frank Kassela | 2 | 3 | 6 |
