Phil Hellmuth ousted at WSOP Main Event after Darth Vader entrance

Phil Hellmuth made his grand entrance to the World Series of Poker’s Main Event on Thursday.

He departed less than two hours later.

The 16-time WSOP bracelet winner didn’t survive to the first break on Day 2ABC before being eliminated from the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship at Bally’s.

Hellmuth registered for the Main Event on Thursday after skipping all the Day 1s and arrived wearing a Darth Vader costume while “The Imperial March” played over the public-address system. Many of the players in attendance either ignored the theatrics or booed the player nicknamed the “Poker Brat.”

Once he sat down, Hellmuth didn’t win a pot. The 1989 Main Event champion lost the majority of his 60,000-chip starting stack in a hand against Shawn Smith, who made a straight on the river to crack Hellmuth’s pocket kings.

Shortly after, Hellmuth flicked in his final 6,000 chips holding king-jack and was called by Jeff Frerichs. Hellmuth made two-pair on the turn, but his opponent hit a set of sixes on the river to score the knockout.

Hellmuth hasn’t made the money in the Main Event since 2015. He has six cashes at this year’s WSOP, including a second-place finish in the $3,000 buy-in Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em event early Sunday.

The schedule features 18 more live tournaments in addition to several online events before the series ends July 20.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.