Shaun Deeb, having gained an early advantage at the WSOP Europe, is confident of becoming the first player to win the POY title two years in a row, and predicts his friend "Texas Mike" will be his biggest competitor. He also discussed Phil Hellmuth's prospects for winning the championship.
Shaun Deeb has the opportunity to make history in two ways at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) – and the chances are very high.
During a break in the #2:$5,000 8-Max No-Limit Hold'em event, the reigning WSOP Player of the Year (POY) spoke to PokerNews with considerable confidence that he would become the first player to win the POY title two years in a row, and his third time receiving the honor. However, he predicted that a close friend would pose a significant challenge.
Deeb accumulated a significant chip stack early on Day 2 before being eliminated just before the money bubble burst. He had gained an early advantage in the POY race, having finished as runner-up twice and ninth once at the WSOP Europe Series in April. Competitors can only count their best 15 points towards the POY rankings, putting him in the lead.
“I’m basically already a bracelet leader,” Deeb said of his head start advantage. “So I’m definitely going to fill my points gap, get to five or six more final tables this summer, win one, and then, you know, I’ll be the favorite to win when I go to the Bahamas.”
This year, the WSOP changed the POY (Point of Honor) format, now including results from the WSOP Europe (April) and WSOP Paradise (December) in the final rankings. Making history is significant for Deeb, who dedicates himself to the pursuit of the POY every year, second to none in the world.
“For the past 10 years, I’ve been planning to work incredibly hard (to win Player of the Year),” Deeb said. “To win in a row, I know how difficult that is. I know how low my expectations are at the beginning of each year. Everyone thinks I’m much better than I actually am. So, if I could succeed, it would be an amazing achievement. I should have done it in 2019. I still regret that. So, yes, winning in a row would be cool, and it might be something that no one in the poker world will ever be able to do again.”
Deeb's strongest competitor?
Deeb, selected at the top bid ($133) in the 25k fantasy draft, is pursuing his ninth gold bracelet, which will certainly boost his chances of being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame this summer (his first year of eligibility since turning 40). He will also become the seventh player in history to reach this milestone.
If this poker legend adds another gold bracelet to his collection this summer, he will be hard to beat in the race for Player of the Year, especially considering his early start. However, he believes there is at least one player who will pose a serious challenge.
“I’d pick ‘Texas Mike,’” Deeb answered when asked who his toughest challenger was. “A good friend of mine. He’s one of two people who will fire more bullets (re-buys) and play more actual tournaments than me. So, yes, Mike will play in all the tournaments, he’ll open more tables than me. I sometimes burn out expectations, but he’ll be playing in every tournament on the schedule at some point, he’s a tough guy.”
"He loves working hard for POY. I'm proud of his success. I'm proud of him getting better and the recognition he gets for all the hard work he puts in. And yes, competing against him will be a fantastic 50 days. We're all cheering each other on. If I don't win, I hope he does."
Michael “Texas Mike” Moncek boasts two gold bracelets and 23 WSOP final table appearances. Deeb expects his friend to fire as many bullets as possible this summer in his pursuit of Player of the Year. But Texas Mike will take at least one day off from tournaments as he will participate in the $1 million buy-in cash game, the Hustler Casino Live Million Dollar Event, on June 12 in Las Vegas.
Deeb seems to believe there's one legend who won't pose much of a threat to him in the Player of the Year race: Phil Hellmuth. Deeb doesn't even think the "poker prodigy" with a record 17 gold bracelets can win any more WSOP events.
“Listen, I love Phil. I think he was a great player. I think he still has the potential to be a great player. But at 60, he wasn’t putting in enough. He was always late. It’s difficult to get him to play poker until 2 a.m., and a lot of the tournaments he played were large-scale. If he listened to me and took my advice, I would let him play 20 tournaments. I would pick 20 tournaments where he had the best chance and the fewest participants. But he would play some very difficult tournaments, regardless of whether you are the best player on the field,” Deeb said.
Hellmuth last won a gold bracelet in 2023, and his goal is to win 24 bracelets before retirement. Deeb predicts he will surpass Hellmuth's record within 10 years, averaging one bracelet per year.
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