It’s hardly unusual for Phil Hellmuth to be opinionated but his attack on Shaun Deeb yesterday was met with fierce criticism. Hellmuth claimed that not only did Deeb have a hand in changing the PoY rules to benefit him, but also claimed most players believed Mike Mizrachi or Benny Glaser should have won the title.
Hellmuth on the Attack
Eighteen-bracelet winner Hellmuth teased fans and followers on Twitter/X with the less-than-enigmatic: “I will be posting a video on @WSOP “Player of the Year” soon Preview:
1.) @TheGrinder44
2.) @BennyGlaser
That thinly-veiled dig at Deeb was followed by his full reveal…
Winners Win!
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) July 22, 2025
This not a rebuke of @WSOP: the 2025 WSOP was fantastic! Well done Staff, Floor People and Dealers!
This is not a rebuke of @shaundeeb: he had a great year, and won the POY (Player of the Year) fair-and-square by the rules posted
This a rebuke of WSOP POY Formula.… pic.twitter.com/HfUhDL6oUe
“Given a vote by the top 100 tourney players in the world, I am certain 90% would have given Grinder POY. The last 10% would have given it to Benny.” –Phil Hellmuth
Naming Daniel Negreanu as one of the few, in his estimation, who thought Deeb was a worthy champion, Hellmuth stated of that: “Bullshit! Benny Glaser won three bracelets…and what Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi did was incredible. He won the Main Event, he won the Player’s Championship (PPC)…he should have been Player of the Year.”
It didn’t take long for the poker community to pile on…but in the main it was Hellmuth they targeted rather than Deeb:
- “Hater of the summer” -Joey Ingram
- “This rant seems unnecessarily unfair to and attacking of Shaun” -Jesse Martin
- “No one agrees with this. It should be best overall results of all tournaments just as it is. There is already an award for 1st its call a bracelet” -Todd Brenn
- “Yikes, still time to delete this” –Rachel Arieh
- “I like how you just leave out the fact that Deeb won a bracelet… a $100K at that. It’s very clever of you to leave that part out.” -Justin Thomas
Deeb Fights Back
Eventually, Deeb himself felt he had to respond to Phil’s attack, pointing out that Player of the Year “isn’t about highlight reels”:
“I’ve stayed quiet through most of the Player of the Year chatter — but after @phil_hellmuth video, it’s time to respond. There’s been too much misinformation floating around, so let’s set the record straight.”
I’ve stayed quiet through most of the Player of the Year chatter — but after @phil_hellmuth video, it’s time to respond. There’s been too much misinformation floating around, so let’s set the record straight.
— shaun deeb (@shaundeeb) July 23, 2025
First off: I had zero involvement in the WSOP changing the POY…
Deeb refutes the argument that he had anything to do with the changes from last year’s PoY formula, and pointed out that it hindered more than helped him.
Despite this, and his admission that Mizrachi and Glaser had outstanding performances, Deeb firmly believes he deserves the accolade.
“POY isn’t about highlight reels. It’s a points-based system. It rewards steady results across the entire series — not popularity, not narrative. And by that measure, I earned it.” -Shaun Deeb
Deeb finished with a sharp dig at Hellmuth: “Props to Mizrachi. Props to Benny. And to Phil? Congrats — on spreading false info, trying to hijack Mizrachi’s Hall of Fame spotlight (shoutout Jared Bleznick it was his suggestion first), and once again proving that volume doesn’t equal accuracy.”
While Deeb’s wife, Ashley, got as many congrats for tidying up her husband’s notoriously unreadable tweets, there was mass support for Shaun’s victory.
- “You played by the same rules as every competitor who stepped into the Summer Arena at this year’s WSOP, and you came out on top!” -Roberto Romanello
- “Imagine following the rules, scoring the most points, and still losing because ‘lol PPC/Main bro’” -Landon Tice
Daniel Negreanu took the time to explain why Hellmuth’s “Winners!” comment was way off the mark…
The system was set up prior to day one
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) July 23, 2025
No one spent more time to understand the intricacies more deeply than you, and you set out on a 7 week journey prioritizing that one goal, at the cost of personal EV to increase your chances because you love the grind, you love the chase,…
With everyone and anyone weighing in on the debate, the majority unhappy with Hellmuth, he eventually came back with an apology, of sorts…
Hellmuth’s Humble Apology?
The Poker Brat hasn’t always been the most sensitive to others’ feelings but eventually he got the message that his ‘Player of the Year’ comments came across as an attack on Deeb.
That prompted an apology, of sorts, although he doubled down on his belief that bracelets are the be-all and end-all of the World Series of Poker.
Apologies @shaundeeb!
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) July 23, 2025
As I said previously, he deserves to win @WSOP POY
I thought Shaun had some influence on POY format. Shaun told me he had nothing to do w it. I was wrong, I apologize
To me, winning 3 Bracelets or Main & Players trumps a lot! To me we need to fix WSOP POY pic.twitter.com/3GuntrL7a4
“To me, winning 3 Bracelets or Main & Players trumps a lot!” -Phil Hellmuth
There was a lot of support in the comments to this one for big Phil, but the overall impression is that he felt a need to be relevant after his own rather dismal WSOP run this year.
In the meantime, the arguments and discussions over just how the Player of the Year award should run will continue, but one thing is for sure — the 2025 award belongs to Shaun Deeb.
