‘Poker Brat’ on right side of exciting hand at WSOP Main Event — WATCH

Phil Hellmuth is off to a good start at the World Series of Poker Main Event.

The 17-time WSOP champion was involved in a big hand Monday on Day 2ABC of the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship and scored an important double-up during the first level of play.

Hellmuth and two other players called an opening raise from Sanjeev Sisodiya and saw a flop of five-two-king. Sisodiya bet 3,500 chips before Hellmuth sprang into action with a raise to 7,000.

After the other two players in the hand folded, Sisodiya kept the pressure on with a raise to 14,500. Hellmuth answered with another raise to 23,000, and Sisodiya decided to go for all the chips, announcing he was all-in.

Hellmuth double-checked his cards and then stacked his chips before putting them in the middle to signal a call for 74,500 total.

The “Poker Brat” flipped over his pocket fives, showing middle set, and he was on the right side of the cooler as his opponent had pocket twos for a lower set.

The three of spades on the turn and queen of diamonds on the river locked up the hand for Hellmuth.

Hellmuth, who won the 1989 Main Event and is the only player with WSOP and WSOP Europe Main Event titles, continued to build his chip stack during the afternoon. He has not cashed in the Main Event in Las Vegas since 2015.

The tournament resumes Tuesday with Day 2D, and attendance continues to lag behind last year’s pace of 9,735 entrants. The official WSOP app showed there were 8,468 entrants when registration was scheduled to close on Monday afternoon. Players can still register through the first two levels of Day 2D on Tuesday.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.