America Saved My Family — Why WSOP Bracelet Ceremony was Special for Philip Sternheimer
There’s been no shortage of emotional moments at the World Series of Poker in recent years. Chris Brewer fought back tears after conquering the $250,000 Super High Roller in 2023, while Daniel Negreanu also let out the waterworks after ending an 11-year bracelet drought with his 2024 Poker Players Championship triumph.
But 2025’s most heartfelt bracelet moment may belong to Philip Sternheimer. The former partner at investment giant Hellman & Friedman broke down after completing a 13-year chase for WSOP gold by taking down the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, good for $763,087.
Sternheimer’s victory came with all the emotion you’d expect from a long-awaited breakthrough. So it was no surprise to see him opt in for a bracelet ceremony. What may have caught several off guard, though, was the anthem that echoed through the Horseshoe as he stood proudly on stage.
Sternheimer — who is ethnically German and Danish with British citizenship — chose to mark the occasion with the Star-Spangled Banner.
PokerNews caught up with Sternheimer during the $50,000 Poker Players Championship to hear why the American anthem held such personal significance.
Sterheimer Pays Tribute to USA After Bracelet Win
Sternheimer’s strong ties to the United States trace back to his father, a German Jew who fled the country during World War II as the Nazis carried out the Holocaust. His father escaped through France and Spain before settling in the U.S.
“My dad, was born in Germany to a German Jewish family,” Sternheimer shared. “They escaped Germany during the war via France and Spain and ultimately to the US. His German citizenship then became American. He didn’t speak a word of English at the time and then he came back to Europe in the 60s as an American.”
Sternheimer, who has lived in the UK for more than a decade and is listed as English on Hendon Mob, still made it clear there was never any doubt which anthem would play when his first bracelet came.
“So I’m born as an American. He didn’t want me to be German and you know America really literally saved my family and millions of others. I pay taxes here and I’m proud to be American.”
Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
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