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Phil Hellmuth does not believe Shaun Deeb should have won 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year and criticized what he called a "flawed" scoring system.
Deeb had a stellar summer that included 18 live event cashes, three runner-up finishes and a bracelet victory worth $2.9 million. But Hellmuth believes there were more worthy candidates this year for the prestigious POY honors.
In a three-minute video posted to X on Tuesday, the 17-time bracelet winner rebuked the process for determining WSOP POY and argued that either Poker Players Championship and Main Event winner Michael Mizrachi or Benny Glaser, who won three bracelets this summer, should have won the POY distinction.
"I don't think any professional poker player believes that the right person won Player of the Year," Hellmuth said in the video.
"Mizrachi should have been Player of the Year. I think that 90% of the poker world believes that. Maybe the other 10% thinks Benny Glaser should have won Player of the Year. One of those two for sure should have won it."
"I mean, he's writing the rules and he's winning Player of the Year and nobody likes the result? What is happening? This has to change."
One solution offered by Hellmuth would be to make second bracelets worth triple points, third bracelets worth triple points, and so on.
"What are we doing? Second place, second place, third place, that's bullsh**. We're champions. Player of the Year should be about champions."
"First off: I had zero involvement in the WSOP changing the POY formula," wrote Deeb.
"The shift from counting unlimited cashes to capping at 10 wasn’t my call — and it hurt me more than it helped. Phil himself admitted that."
Deeb had previously criticized the new POY scoring system. In an interview with PokerNews ahead of the series, Deeb said the rule "punish(es) people like me who put in volume and multi-table."
While Deeb agreed that Mizrachi had a "phenomenal summer" and that Glaser also "crushed," he noted in his X post that POY "isn’t about highlight reels" and is instead a "points-based system."
"Is the system perfect? No. It still needs work. I’d gladly help improve it — even if it means lowering my future chances. But make no mistake: I didn’t create the formula, and I didn’t benefit unfairly from it."
Several poker players voiced support for Deeb, including Chris Brewer, Landon Tice, Derek Kwan and David "ODB" Baker.
Source: https://www.pokernews.com/news/2025/07/phil-hellmuth-on-shaun-deeb-poy-49260.htm
Thoughts? Do you agree with Hellmuth? Do you think Michael Mizrachi should of won the 2025 WSOP player of the year?
Deeb had a stellar summer that included 18 live event cashes, three runner-up finishes and a bracelet victory worth $2.9 million. But Hellmuth believes there were more worthy candidates this year for the prestigious POY honors.
In a three-minute video posted to X on Tuesday, the 17-time bracelet winner rebuked the process for determining WSOP POY and argued that either Poker Players Championship and Main Event winner Michael Mizrachi or Benny Glaser, who won three bracelets this summer, should have won the POY distinction.
"I don't think any professional poker player believes that the right person won Player of the Year," Hellmuth said in the video.
"Mizrachi should have been Player of the Year. I think that 90% of the poker world believes that. Maybe the other 10% thinks Benny Glaser should have won Player of the Year. One of those two for sure should have won it."
"Player of the Year Should Be About Champions"
Hellmuth went further and accused Deeb of lobbying for recent changes to the POY scoring system that shifted from unlimited cashes to a player's ten best results, despite the fact that Deeb has criticized these very changes. The new formula took effect at the 2024 WSOP."I mean, he's writing the rules and he's winning Player of the Year and nobody likes the result? What is happening? This has to change."
One solution offered by Hellmuth would be to make second bracelets worth triple points, third bracelets worth triple points, and so on.
"What are we doing? Second place, second place, third place, that's bullsh**. We're champions. Player of the Year should be about champions."
Deeb Responds
Deeb fired back on X and accused Hellmuth of spreading misinformation about his POY victory."First off: I had zero involvement in the WSOP changing the POY formula," wrote Deeb.
"The shift from counting unlimited cashes to capping at 10 wasn’t my call — and it hurt me more than it helped. Phil himself admitted that."
Deeb had previously criticized the new POY scoring system. In an interview with PokerNews ahead of the series, Deeb said the rule "punish(es) people like me who put in volume and multi-table."
While Deeb agreed that Mizrachi had a "phenomenal summer" and that Glaser also "crushed," he noted in his X post that POY "isn’t about highlight reels" and is instead a "points-based system."
"Is the system perfect? No. It still needs work. I’d gladly help improve it — even if it means lowering my future chances. But make no mistake: I didn’t create the formula, and I didn’t benefit unfairly from it."
Several poker players voiced support for Deeb, including Chris Brewer, Landon Tice, Derek Kwan and David "ODB" Baker.
Source: https://www.pokernews.com/news/2025/07/phil-hellmuth-on-shaun-deeb-poy-49260.htm
Thoughts? Do you agree with Hellmuth? Do you think Michael Mizrachi should of won the 2025 WSOP player of the year?
I’ll be doing a giveaway for one of our home games on StockPoker when we hit 20,000 posts. We’re also at 3,502 threads! Thanks everyone for helping the community continue to grow!