Phil Hellmuth's Chips Mysteriously Vanish During WSOP Break

Phil Hellmuth's luck at the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has been far from ideal. After a tough start to the series, Hellmuth found himself in a frustrating situation during the $10K 2-7 Single Draw Championship. Hellmuth was down to the final 21 players when he left his seat for a bathroom break, only to return and find his entire stack of chips missing.

The incident occurred during a break when the final four tables were being reduced to three. Hellmuth had racked up his chips and left them at the table while he went to the bathroom. Upon his return, he discovered that his stack was nowhere to be seen. It appeared that the missing chips were mixed in with Farzad Bonyadi’s stack, but no one knew how this had happened.

WSOP staff reviewed the footage and confirmed that Hellmuth’s stack was indeed 135,000 chips, which matched Hellmuth's estimation of slightly more than 130,000. Hellmuth handled the situation politely, and Chino Reem interjected to defend Farzad Bonyadi, stating that the incident was an accident. Hellmuth agreed, saying, “Yeah, it was a complete accident. He’s a class guy, he would never do it intentionally. Stuff happens.”