[QUOTE=plaaynde;58183406]I mean, he might just have participated more than anyone else. But prove me wrong
. My general picture is he enters almost all tourneys every year, and has done that for thirty+ years. /QUOTE]
I don't think this is even close to being accurate. He's played few of the lower buy-in events, and for most years he doesn't stay in LV for the duration of the series.
So yes, having played since 1989 he's entered a slew of WSOP events over the past 34 years. But part of his singular greatness is his record of winning bracelets over a 34 year span, a record of long-lasting success and WSOP tournament greatness that no other player has even come close to. Take Seidel for comparison. Playing in the WSOP since '88 and notching his first win in '92, Erik has an impressive 9 bracelets, but his most recent win in 2021 came after a 14 year bracelet drought. And I don't believe Seidel has played substantially fewer events since then than Hellmuth. By contrast, Phil's longest drought between bracelets has been 5 years. As for the younger stars still in their 30s and early 40s who've racked up 5 or 6 bracelets, like Deeb, Ausmus, Glaser, and Rast, only time will tell if they can match Phil for long-term Series success over 3-4 decades.
I don't have firm numbers on events played, and so stand to be corrected if someone does and the data prove me wrong, so take the above as an educated opinion only.
Last edited by namisgr11; 07-05-2023 at 11:24 AM.