Seasoned pro Josh Arieh pipped the legendary Phil Hellmuth at the post this year to take down the WSOP Player of the Year title. The two had been vying neck-and-neck for this title all series, and in the end it came down to just a few slender points.
Daniel Negreanu and Shaun Deeb also came very close to winning the race this year but neither could catch up with these two.
At the end of the series Hellmuth had one shot left to overtake Arieh – Event #88: the $5,000 8max event – but his elimination before the money meant that Arieh had done it!
Arieh cashed in eleven events across the series, ranging from NL Hold’em to a variety of mixed games. The notable wins in the selection were clearly his first place victories in Event 39: The $1,500 PLO 8max, and in Event 66: the $10,000 PLO Hi-Lo Championship, which earned him $204k and $484k respectively, as well as two handsome WSOP bracelets (his third and fourth lifetime).
Arieh also final tabled Event 84: the $50k High Roller PLO, finishing in 7th, and Event 60: the $50k Poker Players Championship, taking 6th, to add to his total roster lifetime of 19 WSOP final tables.
Hailing from New York, Arieh’s first taste of victory at the live felt must have come from his first runner-up finish, being denied the win by none other than Johnny Chan in a WSOP PLO event back in 2000. He’s also had much bigger scores than those of 2021, his best being a clean $2,500,000 for his 3rd place finish in the 2004 WSOP Main Event.
Still, this year must be something quite special to him, sweeping this seriously sought-after Player of the Year Award. Well played indeed, Mr. Arieh!
Image courtesy of WSOP.com