﻿{"id":19554,"date":"2026-06-23T17:35:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/?p=19554"},"modified":"2026-06-23T17:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:36:00","slug":"phil-hellmuth-covid-recovery-ppc-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/phil-hellmuth-covid-recovery-ppc-day-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Hellmuth packs a strong hand on his second day at PPC after recovering from COVID."},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"19554\" class=\"elementor elementor-19554\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c77cee7 e-flex e-con-boxed wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no wpr-column-slider-no wpr-equal-height-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"c77cee7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b2b5bb9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b2b5bb9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19555\" src=\"https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-44-300x199.webp\" alt=\"Phil Hellmuth packs a strong hand on his second day at PPC after recovering from COVID.\" width=\"450\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-44-300x199.webp 300w, https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-44-18x12.webp 18w, https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-44.webp 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/> <span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><em>Phil Hellmuth, after recovering from COVID, participated in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship Day 2, accumulating 900,000 starting chips from 300,000 to advance to Day 3 in 16th place.<\/em><\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">After a &quot;seven-day sickness due to COVID,&quot; Phil Hellmuth, &quot;back to normal,&quot; packed a strong stack on Day Two of the WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship\u2014he had only entered one of the most prestigious tournaments in poker late Monday afternoon.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">The 17-time gold bracelet winner was clearly unaffected by one of COVID&#039;s most notorious symptoms\u2014loss of taste\u2014as Hellmuth was enjoying a taco at the poker table while embarking on his quest for the 2026 Chip Reese Trophy.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">All those carbohydrates seem to have worked \u2013 the &quot;poker brat&quot; amassed 900,000 starting chips and finished the day in 16th place as 39 players returned for the third day on Tuesday. With the WSOP jackpot confirmed at $1.34 million, Hellmuth has a very good chance of winning big at one of the summer&#039;s top events.<\/span><\/p><h3 class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong><span class=\"\">Seeking revenge<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3><p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19556\" src=\"https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2-37-300x200.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2-37-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2-37-18x12.webp 18w, https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2-37.webp 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">The day began in a typically entertaining way\u2014Hellmuth, holding a burrito, faced off against Chris Brewer in an early PLO game.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">After Brewer limped in from the under-the-gun position, David Williams called from the hijack position, Hellmuth called from the small blind, and Brad Owen checked. Hellmuth then led out for 25,000 on a flop of A\u26637\u26633\u2665, with only Brewer calling.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">Both players checked on the Q\u2665 turn, and the 8\u2663 landed on the river. Hellmuth checked, and Brewer bet 40,000, at which point the poker rascal launched into his signature speech.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">Hellmuth said he felt today would be a good day, and he owed Brewer some &quot;revenge&quot; because he had suffered too many &quot;absurd bad beats&quot; over the years. Nevertheless, after revealing A\u26637\u2663, Hellmuth chose to fold.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">Brewer questioned how much of a history the two had, implying they&#039;d only played about 100 hands together in their lifetimes. Hellmuth agreed, but joked that he probably only won three of those hands. Brewer responded that, given Brewer&#039;s reputation as a frequent victim of some of poker&#039;s most brutal bad beats, Hellmuth was in a rather unique group.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">And so the argument ended, the pot was pushed toward Brewer, and Hellmuth went back to his burrito.<\/span><\/p><h3 class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong><span class=\"\">Playing strange tactics<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3><p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19557\" src=\"https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3-29-300x200.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3-29-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3-29-18x12.webp 18w, https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3-29.webp 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">After an initial clash with Brewer, Hellmuth&#039;s chip stack was slightly lower than his starting stack. However, he began to build momentum in the 2-7 three-draw hands.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">The 17-time bracelet winner raised from the gun position, and Williams and Ioannis Angelou Konstas called from the blinds. Hellmuth dribbled one card on the first draw, Williams dribbled two, and Angelou Konstas dribbled three.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">After the first draw, all three players checked. After the second draw, all three improved, and Hellmuth bet. Both opponents called until the final draw. Hellmuth didn&#039;t move, while Williams and Angelo Konstas each exchanged a card.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">When action checked back to him, Hellmuth bet again. Neither opponent liked their final hand and quickly folded, giving the pot to Hellmuth.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">&quot;I played a little strangely,&quot; Hellmuth concluded as he brought his stack to 332,000 chips at that point.<\/span><\/p><h3 class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong><span class=\"\">Make Blez and Arieh fold.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19558\" src=\"https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4-20-300x200.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4-20-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4-20-18x12.webp 18w, https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4-20.webp 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">Hellmuth&#039;s chip stack continued to improve in the Pot-Limit Omaha round, and he won a substantial pot without showing his cards.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">After Jared Bleznick opened the pot and raised, the poker prodigy raised to 112,000 from the button. Bleznick (who had previously been controversial for criticizing broadcasting senior tournaments) called, and Josh Arieh also called from the end of the pot. The three of them saw the flop of 7\u2665A\u2660K\u2665.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">After both opponents checked, Hellmuth didn&#039;t hesitate to bet all in on the pot for 356,000. The pressure was too much\u2014Bleznick and Arieh quickly folded, handing a huge pot to the all-time leader of the most gold bracelets, whose chip stack now stands at 800,000.<\/span><\/p><h3 class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong><span class=\"\">Smooth sailing<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19559\" src=\"https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5-16-300x200.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5-16-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5-16-18x12.webp 18w, https:\/\/pub-dc2de6f8f0454e48ae0895383ea4705c.r2.dev\/hunter.poker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5-16.webp 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">In a limit Texas Hold&#039;em round, chips continued to flow to Hellmuth.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">After opening from the hijack position, Hellmuth was called by Robert Wells in the big blind. Wells checked and called on the flop of Q\u26638\u26656\u2666, but when the turn was 7\u2660, Hellmuth bet again, and Wells quickly folded his hand.<\/span><\/p><p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><span class=\"\" style=\"color: #000000;\">This was another small but steady gain in Hellmuth&#039;s impressive day, as he finished the day in 16th place with 900,000 chips.<\/span><\/p><h3>Want to change Texas Holdem from \"can understand\" to \"can win\"?<\/h3><p><span style=\"color: #333300;\">If you want to learn more about Texas Hold'em, you can continue reading\uff1a<\/span><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/texas-holdem-history\/\">The Origins of Texas Hold'em: Why is it the World's Most Popular Poker Variant?<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/texas-holdem-hand-rankings\/\">Texas Hold'em Hand Rankings and Showdown Rules (Beginner\u2019s Essentials)<\/a><br data-start=\"2628\" data-end=\"2631\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/texas-holdem-betting-actions\/\">Texas Hold'em Betting teaching: Check \/ Bet \/ Call \/Raise and Betting Strategy Analysis<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/texas-holdem-position-strategy\/\">The importance of Texas Hold'em position? Why is the back position more advantageous?<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/hunter-poker-texas-holdem-how-to-play\/\">How to play Texas Hold'em? Novices learn Texas Hold'em rules, processes and betting teaching in 10 minutes<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/texas-holdem-starting-hands\/\">Texas Hold&#039;em Starting Hands Strategy Guide: Which Hands to Play?<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/texas-holdem-starting-hands-chart\/\">Texas Holdem Starting Hands Chart Tutorial: Complete Starting Hand Chart and Position Strategy<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/texas-holdem-rules-and-game-flow\/\">How to play Texas Hold&#039;em? Complete rules and a hand&#039;s flow (Preflop \/ Flop \/ Turn \/ River)<\/a><\/p><p class=\"translation-block\"><em>Hunter Poker offers comprehensive tutorials, hand analysis, and strategy sharing to help players upgrade from simply &quot;reading the cards&quot; to <strong data-start=\"2099\" data-end=\"2113\">understanding the range<\/strong> . This allows you to make better decisions in every hand.<\/em><\/p><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"emoji\" role=\"img\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/17.0.2\/svg\/25b6.svg\" alt=\"\u25b6\ufe0f\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hunterpokergame\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In\u00a0<strong>Facebook<\/strong> Follow Hunter Poker.<\/a><\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"emoji\" role=\"img\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/17.0.2\/svg\/1f4d8.svg\" alt=\"\ud83d\udcd8\" \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@GameHunterPoker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In\u00a0<strong>Youtube<\/strong> Follow Hunter Poker.<\/a><\/span><\/p><h3 class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><span style=\"color: #133985;\"><b>Want to learn more about Texas Hold&#039;em gameplay and strategies?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h3><p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><\/b><span style=\"color: #333300;\"><span style=\"color: #00ffff;\">Online Texas Hold&#039;em free tournaments typically have no entry fee, making them ideal for beginners to familiarize themselves with the rules and for advanced players to test strategies and gain experience. View full brand profiles to learn about each platform&#039;s free tournament schedule, features, and target audience.<\/span><br \/><\/span><\/p><p><!-- CTA --><\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a style=\"display: inline-block; background: #4CAF50; color: #fff; padding: 14px 28px; font-size: 18px; border-radius: 8px; text-decoration: none; font-weight: 600;\" href=\"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/poker-data\/?sort=freeroll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Headed to<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andrew Robl&#039;s stunning fold in the latest episode of High Stakes Poker has reignited the poker community&#039;s debate about the &quot;best high-stakes fold of all time.&quot; This article compares two classic second-best folds by Robl and Doug Polk, analyzing which one is more impressive.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[325],"tags":[1022,3562,3958,416,3930,413,3959,2411,3705,710,3928,3624,2263,3957,3588],"class_list":["post-19554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-325","tag-2026-wsop","tag-chris-brewer","tag-covid","tag-phil-hellmuth","tag-ppc","tag-wsop","tag-3959","tag-2411","tag-3705","tag-710","tag-3928","tag-3624","tag-2263","tag-3957","tag-3588"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19554"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19566,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19554\/revisions\/19566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}