Hellmuth had flown out early to acclimate to the Europe time zone and played in the World Poker Tour Malta event last week. He appeared rested and relaxed as he pursued his latest bracelet.
Helmuth is also in a heated duel with Ben Lamb for the 2011 WSOP Player of the year award. With his seventh place finish, he forced to Lamb to have to finish 8th or better at the WSOP November Main Event final table if he wants the POY title. Just another min-cash by Hellmuth and he would take the overall lead.
Hellmuth seems determined to win a bracelet or at least the POY title with strong finishes in the remaining 5 events at WSOPE.
Guillaume Humbert, a 26-year-old Swiss amateur, beat Japan’s Azusa Maeda heads-up to win the first bracelet event of the Cannes WSOPE. The event drew 260 entrants. The second event has already drawn 771 players, with two first day 1's so it seems certain that the WSOPE will be breaking records for all the tournament turnouts.
Final 7 results from Event #1 of the 2011 WSOPE:
1. Guillaume Humbert — €215,999
2. Azusa Maeda — €133,471
3. Roy Finlay — €92,629
4. Matan Krakow — €65,068
5. Adrien Allain — €46,250
6. Marton Czuczor — €33,255
7. Phil Hellmuth — €24,183
