The World Series of Poker is quickly approaching. The greatest live and online poker players in the world will be flying in and staying in hotels or renting houses. Many of these professionals will be playing in side games and enter multiple events with the ultimate goal of winning a coveted bracelet. Winning a World Series of Poker bracelet is no easy feat with thousands of people to wade through. With a bit of luck and a lot of skill, it is possible to win a bracelet. Last year Phil Hellmuth won his 11^th bracelet and broke a three way tie between himself, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan for having the most bracelets. Brunson and Chan both have 10 and will likely enter multiple events this year.

With the large fields of entrants it has become more difficult to reach the final table of each event. The large pool of players makes it more difficult for professionals to survive and win an event they enter. There are some up and coming young players who have a chance to not only catch Phil Hellmuth but surpass his bracelet total. For the theoretical purpose of figuring out how many bracelets someone would need to pass Phil Hellmuth, let us assume that Hellmuth wins a more bracelets and finishes his career with around 20 bracelets.

Based on Doyle Brunson’s age it is not likely he will win more than 20 bracelets. Johnny Chan has a chance at surpassing 20 because he is only about 51 years old, plays multiple games well, and has a few bracelets in events other than no limit Hold’em. I believe a few other players however have a better chance than Chan to hold the most WSOP Bracelets. The players most likely to end their careers with more than 20 bracelets are Phil Ivey and Allen Cunningham. Both are under the age of 35 and already have 5 bracelets a piece. Ivey however plays fewer events because of his focus on side games that run. Cunningham has won multiple bracelets in multiple events and seems to have the determination and dedication to win every poker tournament he enters. It is also possible that some young player will come out of nowhere to smash the total bracelet record. As the level of skill advances it will become more difficult for any one player to stand out. One thing is for certain, records are meant to be broken, and eventually someone will pass Phil Hellmuth.