Dennis Blieden Cripples Unhappy Phil Hellmuth on His Way to $1Million WPT Victory

One of the quickest-ever final tables at a WPT event saw Dennis Blieden blast through his rivals to scoop the $1milion payday for winning the Season XVI WPT L.A. Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino yesterday, setting himself up for a run at the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions in the process.

It was a remarkable victory for the Ohio businessman, a WPT first-timer whose previous tournament cashes amounted to a paltry $21,980 – barely enough for a re-buy into the $10k championship event he was soon to take down - but he showed no mercy against some stellar opposition.

493 entries were in the running for a share of the $4,681,035 prizepool, among them Phil Hellmuth…

…who lived up to his ‘Poker Brat’ nickname early on in the event when he clashed with eventual winner Blieden, the WPT updates reporting on a remarkable hand which saw the river hit Blieden…

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“Jack,” says Blieden, as he turns over J♣ 10♥

“What the fuck is this goofy shit?” barks Hellmuth, jumping out of his seat turning over his A♣ Q♥ . “Seriously, what the fuck is this?”

There were about 15 more f-bombs as Hellmuth paced back and forth near the final two tables, getting the attention of everybody in the area.

“They are going to fucking take this title away from me with this goofy shit.”

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When Hellmuth finally fell in 15th spot, Blieden forged ahead along with England’s Toby Lewis, the Cincinatti man’s loose and aggressive style cutting a swathe through the final table, which would last only 4 and a half hours and 76 hands.

Lewis was looking to add a second consecutive 7-figure cash to his resume, having taken down the Aussie Millions Main Event last month in Melbourne for $1,178,513, but it wasn’t to be – Blieden pairing his queen on the turn on the final hand and Lewis unable to get away from his pocket 10’s.

Blieden’s first-place prize of $1 million includes a $15,000 seat into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions, and in addition he snagged a luxurious Hublot Big Bang Steel watch plus a $5,000 membership to JetSmarter.

Final Table Results