Most of the damage to Hellmuth’s chances was done on Day Four, when Hellmuth blew away his chip lead in just two hands, ending the day with less than half the chips he started with while others had doubled or even quadrupled their starting stacks.

The 1989 WSOP champion started Day Five with just $700,000 in chips and though he was out of the blocks in a hurry, taking consecutive pots of Paul Wasicka and Kirk Morrison to take his stack back up to $1.7 million within 20 minutes, it was too little too late.

Before Hellmuth’s capitulation there were a few other big names to hit the rail, with Roland De Wolfe, last year’s third placed finisher, busting out when he moved all-in with A-J and was called by Tim Phan holding A-K. A king on the flop sealed his fate; he finished 26^th for $92,820.

The next big name to fall was Paul Wasicka. Like De Wolfe and Hellmuth Wasicka had started relatively low on chips, and was looking for a spot to double up. He thought he had found it when all-in preflop with A-T versus Kirk Morrison’s K-Q, but a king on the flop meant Wasicka was out in 24^th ($92,820).

It was about this time that Phil Hellmuth began to self-destruct. The implosion began when Hellmuth allowed Kirk Morrison to draw a flush with As-7s to beat his pocket kings, sending the poker brat into a trademark tantrum: “No! He did not beat the kings,” was just the beginning.

A few hands later with the flop showing Kc-8h-7s Hellmuth then got involved in a interesting session of limit poker with Tommy Vu. The poker brat began by betting $70,000 into a $200,000+ pot, a sum which perplexed Vu, who started asking: “Why so little Phil? Are you testing me? I think you’re testing me.”

After a few minutes Hellmuth called the clock on Vu, who waited until the last second before min-raising another $70,000. After a few verbal barbs Hellmuth then min-raised another $70,000; this was getting bizarre. Vu continued to say that he thought Hellmuth was testing him, and explained he would have to raise again to see if Hellmuth was bluffing him. The amount? Why $70,000 of course. This time his question got a definitive answer: “I am going to bust you in the next half an hour,” said Phil, and then threw his hand in the muck.

His mood decidedly unimproved, Hellmuth then turned his attention to Thomas Wahlroos, (yet) another player with whom he seemed to have a running feud. After his preflop raise was re-raised to $230,000 Hellmuth called and then checked in the dark with the flop coming 8c-6s-2h. Wahlroos then bet out $300,000, Hellmuth re-raised all-in and Wahlroos insta-called. Aces for Wahlroos, jacks for the poker brat and his run for a first WPT title was over. Queue a tantrum about the Finnish pro’s previous play accompanied by a sulky exit from the tournament. He received $123,760 for his 18th place finish.

There followed the eliminations of Richard Anthony (17^th - $123,760), James Worth (16^th - $123,760), Sorel Mizzi (15th - $154,705), Jared Minter (14^th - $154,705), David Levi (13th – $154,705), and Can Kim Hua (12th - $154,705) and Grant Lang (11^th - $154,705), before the remaining players combined for the final table, with Paul Lee holding a considerable chip lead. Also running well was Thomas Wahlroos in second.

Not for long though. On the almost the first hand of the final table Wahlroos managed doubled up Carlos Mortensen; on a flop of Ah-7d-6d Wahlroos moved all-in over the top of a $500,000 bet from Mortensen. The 2001 WSOP champion called with a set of aces, while Wahlroos showed Ad-4d for a pair and the nut flush draw. The first card out was a seven however filling up Mortensen’s full house and doubling him up to over $6 million in chips. Wahlroos was knocked down to $4.3 million.

The first elimination of the final table was Jimmy Tran, unfortunate to have his pocket queens cracked when Paul Lee flopped a set of fives. He was then followed by Tommy Vu who fell at the hands of Mortensen, whose A-J was always well ahead of Vu’s K-3.

Next out was Scott Fischman, the two-time WSOP bracelet winner and CardPlayer columnist. He had started the final table with one of the smallest stacks but battled well to build his stack and appeared to be on the verge of raking a huge pot when he suffered a nasty bad beat. Getting it all-in with Ad-Ah versus Thomas Wahlroos’s Qc-Qs Fischman was a huge favourite, but the board came with four spades and Fischman’s stack was decimated. He was out in eighth a few hands later, collecting $247,552).

The final elimination of the day came in a huge hand that propelled Paul Lee, who had lost a good share of his stack during the final table, back into a huge chip lead. The hand began with Mike Wattel raising to $420,000, Paul Lee called, and then Thomas Wahlroos pushed all-in for a further $4.35 million from the big blind. With the final table bubble looming ominously Paul Lee made a huge call with A-Q, a hand which could easily have been dominated. Fortunately for Lee Wahlroos only held As-Ts, and it was the Finn who was dominated. Despite picking up a flush draw on the flop the fifth spade never materialised, and Wahlroos was the surprise bubble-boy, picking up $278,465 for seventh place.

Players will start the final table tomorrow with the following chip counts:

Paul Lee - $11,828,000

Juan Carlos Mortensen - $6,501,000

Guy Laliberte - $4,690,000

Kirk Morrision - $4,194,000

Mike Wattel - $2,887,000

Tim Phan - $2,162,000