Sergii Baranov to Slowplay: I offered Phil Hellmuth to let him win

We reflect back on the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event 2012 – an historic tournament because of the player who won it: Mr. Phil Hellmuth. Phil Hellmuth impressed everyone along the way to his 13th World Series of Poker bracelet and after the tournament he stated that he believed that he had played his best tournament ever.

Phil Hellmuth beat Sergii Baranov from Ukraine Heads Up…the same Sergii Baranov pnn.dk had the pleasure to chat with during WPT Copenhagen.

To say that Sergii Baranov is a man worth having a chat with is a big understatement, as Sergii Baranov has been keeping an incredible story to himself, an absolute scoop which he happily shared with us at pnn.dk.

Baranovs proposal

“I proposed to Phil Hellmuth that I should lose deliberately, before we started the heads-up play. I said, ‘Phil, we can split the money and you can keep the bracelet’. What should I do with it? It means everything to him, and I knew it. I would have happily settled the matter that way, I swear ” said Sergii Baranov to pnn.dk.

It is not difficult to guess our next question to Baranov, is it?

What was Hellmuth’s reaction to your proposal?

“He refused out of hand – without even considering the proposition. He didn’t even want to hear any more about it. He said: ‘Sergii, so what if I don’t win. I could never accept such a gift, it would not be right ‘, quotes Sergii Baranov. And he adds:

“Phil wanted to fight for the bracelet and he would never have given it away. I know him and he knows me and he also knows that I would never have said anything to anyone about it, but now I want to tell the story. I’m proud of him and I want you all to know what a fair man he is. He showed true sportsmanship which I deeply appreciate” said Sergii Baranov.

Sergii Baranov stresses that Phil Hellmuth was willing to make a deal with regards to the prize money but exclusively about how to divide up the cash. The bracelet was the only thing that was never open to negotiation.

“We actually ended up ‘just’ playing for a spot of € 100,000 instead of the big difference that was shown between first and second prize on paper. Phil wanted to make a financial deal, but he was determined to win the bracelet in the right way. I have great respect for him and the way he handled my proposal” said Baranov.

The official figures from the WSOPE Main Event record books are:
1st Phil Hellmuth € 1,022,376
2nd Sergii Baranov € 632,593

Numbers that we now know were adjusted in favor of Baranov.
You can see the final hand of the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event between Phil Hellmuth and Sergii Baranov right here