Phil Hellmuth
Phillip J. Hellmuth, Jr. (born July 16, 1964 in Madison, Wisconsin) is a professional poker player.
Biography
In 1989, the 24-year-old Hellmuth became the youngest World Champion of Poker by defeating the two-time defending champion, Johnny Chan, in the World Series of Poker main event.
Hellmuth attended the University of Wisconsin for three years before dropping out to play poker full time (much to the chagrin of his father, a professor at the school). He is sometimes known as "poker brat" because of his perceived attitude and ego. Despite this reputation, his accomplishments are highly respected in the poker world. As of 2006 he has won ten WSOP bracelets, all in Texas hold 'em events. Hellmuth is also the season three champion of Late Night Poker.
In 2005 Hellmuth won the inaugural National Heads-Up Poker Championship. 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.
As of 2006, his total live tournament winnings exceed $8,325,000
He appeared in the first season of the GSN series High Stakes Poker.
In the spring of 2006, Hellmuth replaced Phil Gordon as commentator on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown.
When Hellmuth did an interview on Sirius Satellite Radio recently, he said that he will be on the next season of VH1's The Surreal Life, along with professional wrestler Randy Savage, Playboy Playmate Tina Marie Jordan, and Type O Negative frontman Peter Steele. Savage has confirmed his involvement, though VH1 hasn't officially announced who will be on the cast.
Hellmuth resides in Palo Alto, California with his wife Katherine Sanborn (a psychiatrist at Stanford University) and two sons, Phillip III and Nicholas.
World Series of Poker Bracelets.
Year Tournament Prize (US$)
1989 $10,000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship $755,000
1992 $5,000 Limit Hold'em $188,000
1993 $1,500 Limit Hold'em $138,000
1993 $2,500 No Limit Hold'em $161,400
1993 $5,000 No Limit Hold'em $173,000
1997 $3,000 Pot Limit Hold'em $204,000
2001 $2,000 No Limit Hold'em $316,000
2003 $2,500 Limit Hold'em $171,400
2003 $3,000 No Limit Hold'em $410,860
2006 $1,000 No Limit Hold'em with rebuys $631,863
To date, Hellmuth has won $4,765,894 at the World Series of Poker.
Personality and controversy
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Phil Hellmuth at the 2003 World Series of Poker playing against Sam Grizzle.Hellmuth is one of the most recognizable figures in poker and many fans have strong opinions of him, both negative and positive. While his ten WSOP bracelets bring him much recognition, his notoriety is also due to his perceived inability to gracefully handle adversity and defeat.
He has made many notable boasts while playing poker tournaments, usually after suffering a "bad beat". Some televised examples include "If luck weren't involved I guess I'd win every one," and "I've revolutionized the way to play Texas hold 'em." During the 2005 Main Event at the World Series of Poker, he stated that he could "dodge bullets" after making a laydown to an opponent with two Aces (the best possible starting hand), and even accused an amateur player of not even being able to spell poker (this after the player put all his money in the pot with King high and hit a three-outer to win the pot). He is sometimes referred to as "Hell Mouth", a play on his surname. While many players may not like Hellmuth's antics, producers of televised poker tournaments certainly do, since there are rare times (especially during the World Series of Poker) when a camera is not on him to capture a moment where he speaks his mind.
At the 2002 WSOP, he offered to have his head shaved if amateur Robert Varkonyi, who was short-stacked at the time, won the event. When Varkonyi went on to win, Hellmuth followed through; ESPN's coverage of the event ends with Hellmuth's locks getting shorn.
Hellmuth wrote a book titled Poker Brat, which contains autobiographical material as well as poker advice.
While many professional players, amateurs, and fans alike consider his antics distasteful and abrasive at times, they respect his talent for the game and his personality when he is away from the table. It can be contended that Hellmuth engages in some bad etiquette purposely, since a large part of selling his image is as a "poker brat."
There are several instances where he does do helpful things for poker and its participants (fans and players alike). For example, during the WSOP 2005 main event final table, Card Player Magazine decided to have top pros like Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, and Erick Lindgren comment on the action live on streaming audio hand by hand until a champion was declared. The event lasted a substantial time, starting at around mid evening and lasting until early morning the next day. Despite all the other scheduled commentators leaving to go out to play poker or sleep, Hellmuth stayed behind the mic for the duration of the tournament in order to comment for the listeners. During the broadcast, Hellmuth turned 41 years old.
He has participated in numerous charities and events and also likes to voice his opinion in several segments during the World Series of Poker and in World Poker Tour events. He has also been in several podcasts related to poker, including Phil Gordon's covering the 2005 World Series of Poker.
Internet personality Kevin Bowen created a series of videos available online where he acts as "Bill Fillmaff", a character who mimics Hellmuth's appearance and behavior. Fillmaff exaggerates Hellmuth's idiosyncrasies and mannerisms and epitomizes the term "poker brat." Hellmuth even made a cameo in the final episode of Bowen's online video series, and goes head-to-head against Bowen (as Fillmaff) in the online series "Ultimatebet.com's Bill vs. Phil".
Hellmuth as a business person
Hellmuth is involved in many endeavors away from the felt. He is the author of many articles for Card Player Magazine and poker books, including Play Poker like the Pros, Bad Beats and Lucky Draws, and The Greatest Poker Hands ever Played. He has made several instructional poker videos, including Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Poker Secrets. Hellmuth is also a spokesperson for (and player at) Ultimate Bet, an online poker room. More recently, he has worked with Oakley to develop his signature series of poker style sunglasses as well as currently working on a clothing line. Hellmuth also appeared in promotional commercials for the Arena Football League during the 2006 season. In an online interview with ESPN, he estimated that he could earn anywhere up to $400 million off the poker table.
External links
Official site
Camp Hellmuth
Cardplayer Magazine articles
World Poker Tour profile
Poker Pages profile
Poker Babes profile
All In Magazine interview
PokerPlayer magazine interview
Online Poker Center book review
Hendon Mob tournament results
