Phil Hellmuth

infobox poker player
firstname=Phil
lastname=Hellmuth
nickname=The Poker Brat


caption=Phil Hellmuth at the 2006 World Series of Poker
hometown=Palo Alto, California
wsop bracelet count=11
wsop money finishes=68(+1)
wsop main event best finish rank=Winner
wsop main event best finish year=1989
multi-year wsop winner
wpt titles= "None"
wpt final tables=3(+2)
wpt money finishes=10

Phillip J. Hellmuth, Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record eleven World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker [cite web|url=http://www.pokerpages.com/poker-news/news/phil-hellmuth-wins-11th-world-series-of-poker-bracelet-29773.htm|title=Record 11th bracelet] and for his "poker brat" personality. He is also a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. [ [http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/article/9186 Hellmuth, Enright Inducted into Poker Hall of Fame] ]

Poker accomplishments

World Series of Poker

In 1989, the 24-year-old Hellmuth became the youngest player to win the Main Event of the WSOP - a record that still stands as of 2008 - by defeating the two-time defending champion, Johnny Chan in heads up play. At the 2006 World Series of Poker, he captured his record 10th World Series of Poker bracelet in the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em with rebuys event. [ [http://poker.about.com/b/a/207552.htm Hellmuth wins 10th bracelet] ] At the time, this tied him with fellow poker legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan. However, unlike Brunson and Chan, all of his bracelets are in Texas hold'em.

At the 2007 World Series of Poker, Hellmuth won his record-breaking 11th bracelet in the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Event. [ [http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/6914900 Hellmuth wins 11th bracelet] ] Hellmuth also holds the records for most WSOP cashes (68) [cite web|url=http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/ranking/168|title=WSOP cashes] and most WSOP final tables (41), recently overtaking TJ Cloutier.

At the Main Event of the 2008 World Series of Poker Hellmuth made a deep run finishing in 45th place out of a field of 6,844. He was the last former champion standing at the event when he was knocked out by Andrew Rosskamm. Hellmuth took home $154,400.

Hellmuth has won $5,859,080 at the WSOP and is ranked 6th on the WSOP All Time Money List. [ [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/ranking/125 WSOP All Time Money List] ]

=World Series of Poker bracelets [cite web|url=http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=117|title=Hellmuth poker victories] =

World Poker Tour

Hellmuth has not won a World Poker Tour (WPT) tournament. He has cashed 10 times and made 3 final tables. He finished 4th in the $3,000 No Limit Hold'em WPT Event at the 3rd Annual 49'er Gold Rush Bonanza in 2002 and 3rd in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em WPT Event at the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods in 2003 and at the 2008 WPT L.A. Poker Classic Hellmuth finished in sixth place earning $229,480 in a final table that included both Phil Ivey and Nam Le. He also played in two WPT Invitational Events, the World Poker Tour by The Book in 2004 and the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II in 2006 and finished 3rd both times. [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=117 Hendon Mob Tournament Results] ]

To date, Hellmuth has won $814,869 in WPT tournaments.

Other tournaments

Hellmuth is the season 3 champion of Late Night Poker. [cite web|url=http://poker.gamble.co.uk/tv-media/late-night-poker-winners.asp|title=Late Night Poker winners]

In 2005, Hellmuth won the first National Heads-Up Poker Championship [cite web|url=http://www.pokerpages.com/tournament/result11700.htm|title=Hellmuth wins NHUPC] . He defeated Men Nguyen, Paul Phillips, Huck Seed, Lyle Berman and Antonio Esfandiari on the way to the final against Chris Ferguson whom he defeated in two out of three games. While trying to repeat in 2006, he lost in the first round to Chip Reese [cite web|url=http://www.vegastexasholdem.net/LargeEvents/2006CaesarsHeadsUp.htm|title=Hellmuth can't defend] . In 2007, Hellmuth did not play due to the PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker, a British tournament in which he took part. He won 4 out of his 6 group matches and eventually finished 3rd in the finals. Hellmuth took part in the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship [cite web|url=http://www.philhellmuth.com/bio.html|title=Hellmuth schedule] , losing in the first round to Tom Dwan.

He makes regular appearances on episodes of Poker After Dark, both as a player and as a drop in commentator. Hellmuth won his first Poker After Dark tournament in the first episode of the third season, winning a net $100,000. Hellmuth returned two weeks later and claimed his second Poker After Dark title, winning another net of $100,000. He also appeared in the first and fourth seasons of GSN's cash game show, High Stakes Poker [ [http://www.gsn.com/corporate/press.php?release_id=162 ‘High Stakes Poker’ Featuring a $100,000 MINIMUM Buy-In PREMIERES ON GSN] ] .

As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $10,600,000. He is ranked 4th on the All Time Money List, behind Jamie Gold, Daniel Negreanu and Joe Hachem. [ [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/ranking/1] ]

Poker-related activities

Hellmuth has made several instructional poker videos, including his "Ultimate White To Black Belt Course" and "Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Poker Secrets." He has written many articles for Cardplayer magazine and several poker books including "Play Poker like the Pros", "Bad Beats and Lucky Draws", "The Greatest Poker Hands ever Played", and "Poker Brat", which contains autobiographical material as well as poker advice. In May 2004 Phil Helmuth partnered with Oasys Mobile for the release of "Texas Hold'em by Phil Hellmuth." At the time it was one of the ten most popular multi-player mobile phone games available. [ [http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/news/2006/jul/26/news6.html Wireless Developer Network ] ] In spring 2006, Hellmuth replaced Phil Gordon as commentator on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/news/story?id=2380357 Hellmuth replaces Gordon on Bravo] ]

Along with Annie Duke, Hellmuth is a poker coach on Fox Sports Network’s Best Damn Poker Show, which is sponsored by the poker site Ultimatebet.net.

Personality and controversy

Hellmuth is known for making scathing remarks about his opponents’ skills, especially after taking bad beats. [ [http://www.imaconlinepoker.com/bios/phil-hellmuth/ Phil Hellmuth Jr. Biography] ] During the Main Event of the 2005 World Series of Poker he stated "I can dodge bullets, baby!" after laying down Ace King to an opponent's pocket Aces on a board of A 4 4 Q rainbow. He later accused Jim Pitman of not even being able to spell poker after Pitman put all of his money in the pot preflop with King Jack against Hellmuth's Ace King; Hellmuth's opponent hit a three-outer to win the pot. [ [http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-players/phil-hellmuth/phil-hellmuth-quotes-rants-raves-and-famous-crybaby-moments.htm PHIL HELLMUTH Quotes, Rants, Raves and Famous Crybaby Moments!] ] Other famous quotes include: "If luck weren't involved, I guess I'd win every [tournament] ," and "I've revolutionized the way to play Texas hold 'em." [ [http://www.imaconlinepoker.com/bios/phil-hellmuth/ Phil Hellmuth Jr. Biography] ]

In the first week of the show "Poker After Dark" on NBC, after fellow pros Shawn Sheikhan, Steve Zolotow, Gus Hansen and Huck Seed refused to stop talking while it was his turn to act on his hand after Annie Duke raised him, Hellmuth threatened to never play in these tournaments again. Duke was the only player at the table who remained quiet while the drama played out. Producers of the show came up with a ruling regarding the situation, Hellmuth returned and was eliminated a few hands later by Sheikhan. [ [http://www.philhellmuth.com/articles.html?id=122 Phil Hellmuth's Blog] ]

Hellmuth's sponsor, UltimateBet, arranged for him to arrive at the 2007 WSOP Main Event in an Ultimatebet race car, escorted by 11 Ultimatebet models (one for each of Hellmuth's 11 World Series of Poker bracelets). However, Hellmuth crashed the race car in the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino parking lot when he lost control of the vehicle and hit a concrete light fixture. After the accident, Hellmuth showed up in a limo, met his escorts, and made his grand entrance to the Main Event two hours late. [ [http://www.pokernews.com/news/2007/7/wsop-updates-event-55-1d-Josh-Evans-leads-fourth-opening-day.htm WSOP Updates, $10,000 Main Event, Day 1d] ] The accident was briefly, by some sources, thought to be staged, but Hellmuth said it wasn't. [ [http://www.gambling911.com/Phil-Hellmuth-Car-Crash-071407.html Phil Hellmuth Car Crash Raises More Questions Than Answers] ] He later made light of the accident in a television advertisement for Ultimatebet. In 2008, Hellmuth again made a grand entrance into the WSOP Main Event. As a promotion to the UB Army, Hellmuth arrived in a convoy dressed in military garb.

Personal life

Hellmuth was born in Madison, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for three years before dropping out to play poker full-time. He currently resides in Palo Alto, California with his wife Katherine Sanborn and two sons, Phillip and Nicholas. [ [http://www.philhellmuth.com/bio.html Phil Hellmuth Biography] ]

Hellmuth's wife played in the Ladies' Event of the 2005 World Series of Poker, where she was eliminated by eventual champion Jennifer Tilly.

References

External links

* [http://www.philhellmuth.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.cardplayer.com/magazine/author/18 Articles by Hellmuth] from the "Card Player" magazine website
* [http://www.worldpokertour.com/players/?x=profile&id=2352 Profile] from the World Poker Tour
* [http://www.pokerpages.com/articles/profiles/philhellmuth.htm PokerPages.com profile]
* [http://www.poker-babes.com/bio/phil-hellmuth/ Poker-Babes.com profile]
* [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=117 Tournament results] from The Hendon Mob