Who is the better tournament poker player?

Atararo14

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For me it's Phil Hellmuth. in addition to his respectable career, he creates a special atmosphere when he plays.
 
Gdefender

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Phil Hellmuth is the favorite!
Winning 15 wsop bracelets is not easy...he did it! Plus, he was 24 when he got his first! So he is a GREAT role model!
 
Viparida

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Well, i am going to answer phill helmuth because i never saw bryn kenney plays, but i searched on google and saw that he is the poker player with the most money made in history. Didn´t know that.
 
riff_raff312

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Yes this is a tough one to pick i've watched them both and with Phil with more bling than most women have on their wrist which is not an easy task to complete,and then there is Byrn with all that cash but can't buy a bracelet :confused:. I'm going to have to go with Phil if just for the entertainment value and show he puts on with his lip flapping :LOL:.
 
23maxim88

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Between these two poker players who is the better tournament player and why? Phil Hellmuth or Bryn Kenney?


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I don't follow new players much, so probably among these two poker players, Phil Hellmuth is better; he's a legend. However, there's something I don't like about him; it seems like he has a lot of ego and can treat others condescendingly, throwing a few bad words at them in response to their play. I prefer Daniel Negreanu more. He's cheerful, positive, has an excellent sense of humor, charisma, and incredible intuition and reads opponents' cards exceptionally well.
 
MTCashman

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I'll go with Phil Helmuth for longevity sake. The guy has been a staple in the poker scene for nearly 40 years.
 
Sebbour

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Between these two poker players who is the better tournament player and why? Phil Hellmuth or Bryn Kenney?


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For these two I had to look statistics and statistics is on Phil's side.

Phil had 202 cashes, 71 final tables and 17 bracelets at WSOP, 18 cashes and 8 final tables at WPT while Bryn had 52 cashes, 10 final tables and 1 bracelet at WSOP, 9 cashes and 1 final table at WPT and 8 cashes and 1 final table at EPT.

Bryn earned more money than Phil but in this comparison I'm ruling out earnings.

So at this moment I would say Phil Hellmuth.
 
ADRI7HO

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If I have to choose between the two players, I would choose Phil Hellmuth because he has the most WSOP bracelets and the incredible results, but Bryn Kenney is the first on most lists in terms of cash won ($65m+ according to TheHendonMob, which is an incredible amount) , so he's also an incredibly good player, but WSOP bracelets mean a lot to me.
 
yuriko oyama

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Even though my opinion is a little controversial, I vote for Bryn Kenney, I explain, even though hellmuth is a poker icon, his tilts and complaints don't add much to poker as a whole.
So I prefer to vote for someone who behaves better and treats his opponents as I believe they should be treated in poker.
 
Baurzhan11

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I don't know in two but I've seen Helmut from YouTube he made one good foldwith fulhouse
 
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iwont20

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Well it's the first time I'm hearing the name/ seeing the other guy. So my answer can't be considered a qualified answer.

I don't particularly like Phil, but one thing can be said for sure, despite his behavior and antics, Phil has been around for a long time and has been successful. Some people criticize him for being a bad poker player, who won't stand a chance against top players (like what Steffen Sontheimer said, for example), but to win or do good in tournaments one needs to play against a lot of different kinds of opponents, not just top dogs, and Phil seems to know how to do that.
 
rhoudini

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Well, without any doubts, between these two players, Phil Hellmuth is the best, of course.
This question is quite subjective, but we can try to add some objective criteria to try to answer it. Let's see...
  1. Consistency: Hellmuth is on the scene since 1989, when he won the WSOP Main Event, the youngest person to win the Main Event at that time. Ok, at 1989 Kenney was 3 years old, therefore Phil has a lot of time on his advantage.
  2. Hall of Fame: The Poker Brat is a member of the Hall of Fame. This tells a lot about his history.
  3. Major wins: Kenney has won several expressive high-rollers, but let's be honest, despite having a difficult field, these tourneys have few players, therefore they have less variance; but Hellmuth has a lot more "difficult" tournament wins, including 17 WSOP bracelets.
  4. Proficiency in other variants: no question about it, Hellmuth can compete at high-level in almost all variants, and many of his WSOP bracelets have been conquered in non-Hold'em events. Kenney is great too, his WSOP bracelet came from an 10-Game event, but still less impressive than Hellmuth's wins so far.
  5. Behavior: well, Hellmuth can be annoying sometimes, many people don't like him, but we can all agree that at the table (usually) he behaves ok. I have never seen this affect the whole table (for example, like that guy, Martin Kabrel, who annoyed every single player). I believe this is a minor issue.
Therefore, for all these reasons, I believe that historically the Poker Brat is ahead and can be considered better.
 
Rumengh

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Without a doubt the better player for me is Phil Hellmuth. He has won so many WSOP titles that there is no basis for comparison. His demeanor in dealing with bad luck is endearing. So for me, Phil is a legend. Of course Bryn Kenny made a lot of money in a short time. He is said to have won $65 million from various tournaments. Let's also remember his poker tournament victory when he won $20 million from a tournament in 2019. Bryn Kenny made a lot of money in a short time and he's a great player too but Phil remains a legend to me
 
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I hate to say it, but Hellmuth. Bracelets proofs.
 
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amitmanchanda

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There are two ways to answer this, one go by pure statistics, number of tournaments won divided by number of tournaments played. One who has better ratio is better player. I don’t have the stats so I can’t answer but I guess they themselves can as I am sure they track all the tournaments they play.

“ Tournament money won doesn’t make any sense to me as that depends on buy in, so I won’t take it as a parameter.”

Second way, which is far harder to analyse and have a consensus is to check their playing style, decisions they have made in tough situations, number of bad beats or coolers at crucial points because one mistake or unlucky hand in tournament, all your good work is done. And if we consider who is bad looser or ahit talker on table, we all know who will loose this comparison :)
 
MishkaZL

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If the choice is only between these two players, I think Phil Hellmuth is the best.
 
lilu80

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Definitely Phil Hellmuth. This is a legend. He won the biggest tournaments known. He has as many as 17 WSOP championship bracelets, including the WSOP win in 1989! Several dozen years of a stunning career. He won tournaments with a large field with a significant number of professional players. Honestly, I haven't even heard of this player, Bryn Kenney. As I read, he is currently a high roller player. Even though he won over $55 million, any rich person could play in the tournaments he played. The number of players is negligible and it is definitely easier to win such a high roller tournament than the WSOP. The sum of winnings from high roller increases very quickly. Therefore, you cannot only compare winning amounts. Winning in a high roller tournament with a small number of players is in no way comparable to winning in famous tournaments, including the WSOP, which is definitely more difficult.
 
hobojim1247

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I vote for Helmuth. His record is unmatched as a poker player. To bad he is such a jerk to other players. If he had d-Negs personality and demeaner he would be as popular.
 
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I think Fhil Helmuth is the best, with 17 bracelets and a monstrous career. 17 against 1 Bryn Kenny is a great player with good results but Fhil Helmuth is the best.
 
R.Melnyk77

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I think it's Phil Hellmuth. At least I heard a lot more about him and his victories than about this other player.
 
Sheepodog

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Phil Helmuth.
Love him or hate him, he has historically proven over and over again that he is the greatest tournament player.
 
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