WSOP 2011 - Week Five Headlines - Hellmuth comes second again, Just two events to complete before Main Event, Joe Ebanks wins first $1m prize of the Series

RIO CASINO, LAS VEGAS - Just moments ago Phil Hellmuth claimed the first $1million prize of his career. The Poker Brat will be incredibly disappointed though, as he came runner-up for the third time in the series, this time in Event #55 - The $50,000 Poker Player's Championship; probably the most prestigious tournament in the WSOP outside the Main Event. Hellmuth's quest for bracelet #12 continues after coming as close as he could this time.

Hellmuth came one short after a fantastic comeback from Brian "tsarrast" Rast in a heads up battle where Hellmuth's lead was almost 5 to 1 just before Rast made the turnaround.

The final hand saw Phil Hellmuth on the button and raising to 400,000. Brian Rast called, and the dealer put out a flop of Jd9dTs. Rast led out for 500,000, and Hellmuth moved all in.

Rast stood up as he called, showing his KQ of clubs for the nut straight, whil Phil Hellmuth held 2,8 of diamonds for a flush draw and an open ended straight draw that wouldn't help him.

As the turn came 5 of hearts and the river fell 8 of spades, the tournament was over and Rast's group of supporters went wild.

According to PokerNews, Hellmuth told Rast while congratulating him, "If I were you, I'd tip that dealer a million."

Despite the disappointment of coming second on three occasions this series, all in championship events, Hellmuth has a great chance of winning 2011 WSOP Player of the Year if he has a decent run in the Main Event.

Earlier on in week five of the series, Joe Ebanks bested a field of 474 in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed Championship to claim the first seven figure prize of the series. He beat online tournament behemoths Chris "Moorman1" Moorman and Bertrand "ElKy" Grospellier in three handed play to claim a highly regarded bracelet in this ultra aggressive format of No Limit Hold'em.

The Main Event kicks off with the first day one in less than 12 hours. The poker community is waiting to see how many people turn up to play, but with such a good series so far it seems likely that the 13 day Main Event will see a decent field stumping up the $10,000 buy in to the biggest tournament of the year.

Only two events remain in action tomorrow as the first flight of Main Event players will take every available space in the Rio Casino. Event #56 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em has 42 players remaining, while Event #57 - $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8 or Better will see 25 players return to action tomorrow.

42nd World Series of Poker List of Events and Winners (Event #43 - #55)

Event #43 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em - Andre Akkari BRA - $675,117

Event #44 - $2,500 Seven Card Razz - Rep Porter USA - $210,615

Event #45 - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em - Kenneth Griffin USA - $455,356

Event #46 - $10,000 No Limit Hold'em / Six Handed Championship - Joe Ebanks USA - $1,158,481

Event #47 - $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better - Owais Ahmed USA - $255,959

Event #48 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em - Athanasios Polychronopoulos USA - $650,223

Event #49 - $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw (Limit) - Leonard Martin USA - $189,818

Event #50 - $5,000 Triple Chance No Limit Hold'em - Antonin Teisseire FRA - $825,604

Event #51 - $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8 or Better - David Singontiko USA - $268,235

Event #52 - $2,500 Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No Limit) - Matt Matros USA - $303,501

Event #53 - $1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold'em Championship - Marsha Wolak USA - $192,344

Event #54 - $1,000 No Limit Hold'em - Maxim Lykov RUS - $648,880

Event #55 - $50,000 Poker Player's Championship - Brian Rast USA - $1,720,328