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WSOP EUROPE HISTORY: PHIL HELLMUTH WINS #13 DURING WSOPE 2012
Las Vegas, Nevada (February 28, 2026) - The most accomplished World Series of Poker player in the history of the WSOP, Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth, is a household name in any card room.
The man famous for theatrical entrances to the WSOP Main Event holds the all-time record for WSOP bracelet victories with 17.
Having the all-time record for WSOP bracelet victories is legendary on its own, so much so that it can distract from the other notable feats of Hellmuth’s poker career.
With over $18 million in all-time winnings in WSOP events, the legend of Phil Hellmuth was born at the very end of the 1980’s.
Winning the 1989 WSOP Main Event, at 24 years old, Hellmuth became the youngest WSOP Main Event champion in history, a record that withstood for nearly 20 years before Peter Eastgate won the 2008 WSOP Main Event at the age of 22.
During the 1993 WSOP, only four years after his victory in the Main Event, Hellmuth became only the second poker player in history, since Puggy Pearson, to win three WSOP bracelets in the same WSOP series.
Having a list of impressive accolades he continues to build on to this day, in 2007, Hellmuth completed one of the greatest accomplishments of his poker career, being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Accomplishing seemingly all one can in a poker career, Hellmuth’s success at the WSOP has even been witnessed outside of the United States.
As WSOP Europe 2026 draws closer and closer, we take a look back at WSOP Europe 2012, where Hellmuth won bracelet #13 and achieved a feat that no other poker player has been able to replicate.
Phil Hellmuth becomes the first poker player to win both the WSOP and WSOP Europe Main Event
By the conclusion of the 2012 WSOP, Hellmuth had locked up his 12th WSOP bracelet after winning the $2,500 Seven-Card Razz in Las Vegas.
While the potential for bracelet #13 seemingly would have to wait until the following WSOP, entering it’s sixth year, WSOP Europe 2012, held at Hôtel Majestic Barrière and Le Croisette Casino Barrière in Cannes, France, offered seven tournaments in which Hellmuth could chase more WSOP hardware.
Incredibly skilled at variations of poker outside of Texas Hold’em, all seven tournaments were in play for Hellmuth, but none compared to the €10,450 buy-in WSOP Europe Main Event.
If there was a tournament on the schedule for Hellmuth to win #13, the WSOP Europe Main Event was the one to go the distance in.
Drawing 420 total entrants, by the time the last 8 players assembled for the final table, Hellmuth would sit as the overall chip leader, followed closely by Ukrainian Sergii Baranov.
As players slowly dropped one by one, Hellmuth and Baranov carried their large chip stacks into heads-up play, with Hellmuth holding a clear lead.
Taking his chip lead all the way to the finish line, Hellmuth not only secured bracelet #13 and the €1,022,376 top prize, but also became the first and only poker player to win both the WSOP and WSOP Europe Main Event.
Having won four more WSOP bracelets since then, while Hellmuth has plenty of accolades to his name, it is unlikely any poker player will ever repeat what he accomplished at WSOP Europe in 2012.
Looking to make some history of your own at WSOP Europe? If so, be sure to check out the full WSOP Europe 2026 bracelet event schedule, taking place at Hilton and King’s Casino Prague, March 31 - April 12, 2026.
