In what has become a yearly tradition, Phil Hellmuth once made his appearance at the World Series of Poker Main Event in grand style. This time, the Poker Brat showed up on Day 1f dressed as Gandalf the White.
Flanked by a couple of elves and 16 women — representing the 16 WSOP bracelets that Hellmuth has won — Hellmuth was joined also by Dan “Jungleman” Cates, who filled the role as Saruman. The pair walked side by side in their journey through the Rio before Hellmuth made way to his seat. GG Poker put together a montage of highlights from the stunt, which you can see below:
???? EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS ❓????@phil_hellmuth makes his way to his #WSOPMainevent seat.#ThanksGG #Gandalf #LordoftheRings pic.twitter.com/7kLar4znRL
— GGPoker (@GGPoker) November 10, 2021
Hellmuth was interviewed about the entrance shortly after sitting down:
Here’s @phil_hellmuth explaining his Gandalf outfit and the ‘Lord of the Bracelets’ gives his prediction for the #WSOPMainEvent with @GGPoker pic.twitter.com/PavWvd4cOQ
— ODDSbible (@ODDSbible) November 10, 2021
Fortunately for Hellmuth, he did not suffer the embarrassment of being knocked out of the Main Event in the costume. Instead, he finished Day 1f with an above-average chip stack of 94,500, which was 244th in chips out of 782 survivors.
Previous Phil Hellmuth WSOP Main Event entrances
By now, Phil Hellmuth’s entrances at the World Series of Poker Main Event have become the stuff of legends. From Thor to Caesar, Hellmuth’s entrances are always sure to get some laughs, a fair number of eye rolls and definitely some attention.
At first, they started off as simple appearances by Hellmuth, showing up late during the first day to the delight of the ESPN cameras and scorn from commentator Norman Chad. For a time, they evolved into the increasingly spectacular and odd.
Then in the early 2010s, they trended towards more subdued late entrances, until Hellmuth showed up to the 2018 WSOP dressed as Thor.
Here’s a list of some of Hellmuth’s more notable Main Event entrances:
- 2007 – Racecar driver
- 2008 – Army officer
- 2009 – Caesar
- 2010 – MMA Fighter
- 2018 – Thor
- 2021 – Gandalf the White
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