Phil Hellmuth turned the World Series of Poker Main Event into a circus Thursday.

The 17-time WSOP champion arrived at Horseshoe Las Vegas for Flight 1D of the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship in cosplay as P.T. Barnum from the 2017 movie “The Greatest Showman.”

Hellmuth towed a cage behind him with professional poker player Daniel “Jungleman” Cates inside dressed as a lion. There were also 17 women with cat makeup in a single-file line, one for each of his wins at the WSOP.

The player known as the “Poker Brat” won his record 17th WSOP bracelet, which are awarded for tournament victories, early Sunday in the $10,000 buy-in Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em event. No other player has more than 10 bracelets.

Hellmuth’s grand entrance has become a tradition at the Main Event. Last year, he arrived dressed as Darth Vader and was eliminated less than two hours later.

It has been a successful summer for Hellmuth with 11 cashes and the bracelet. He is looking to make the money in the Main Event for the first time since 2015.

This year’s Main Event has broken the record for largest field, overtaking the mark of 8,773 entrants in 2006.

Contact David Schoen at [email protected] or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.