Phil Hellmuth is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional
pokerPoker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player. He is best known for holding a record 11
World Series of Poker braceletThe World Series of Poker bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1976, WSOP championships are now counted as "bracelets". ...
s, for winning the Main Event of the
1989 World Series of PokerThe 1989 World Series of Poker was held at Binion's Horseshoe. The 1989 Main Event was won by 24-year-old Phil Hellmuth, defeating defending champion Johnny Chan, and also breaking the record for the youngest player to win the WSOP Main Event . Had Johnny Chan won, he would have tied Johnny...
(WSOP) and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality. He is also a member of the WSOP's
Poker Hall of FameThe Poker Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional poker playing in the United States. Founded and located in Las Vegas, Nevada, it was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino, to preserve the names and legacies of the world's greatest poker players and to serve...
.
Personal life
Phillip Jerome Hellmuth, Jr. was born in
Madison, WisconsinMadison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, and attended the
University of Wisconsin–MadisonThe University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
for three years before dropping out to play poker full time. He now lives in
Palo Alto, CaliforniaPalo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
with his wife Katherine Sanborn (a psychiatrist at Stanford University) and their two sons Philip III and Nicholas.
Tournaments
As of 2011, his total live tournament winnings exceed $13,000,000. He is ranked fourth on the All Time Money List, behind
Erik SeidelErik Seidel is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title.In 2010, he was inducted as a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
,
Daniel NegreanuDaniel Negreanu is a Canadian professional poker player. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles. He is currently ranked second in the all-time career earnings list and is the star of poker game show Million Dollar Challenge. He plays a big...
, and
Phil IveyPhillip Dennis "Phil" Ivey Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables...
. As a poker player, Hellmuth is known for taking his seat in tournaments hours after they begin.
World Series of Poker
In 1989, the 24-year-old Hellmuth became the youngest player to win the Main Event of the WSOP by defeating the two-time defending champion
Johnny ChanJohnny Chan rather than his Chinese birth name. born in Guangzhou, China in 1957) is a Chinese American professional poker player. He has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, including 1987 and 1988 World Series of Poker main events consecutively....
in heads up play; his record has since been broken twice, when
Peter EastgatePeter Eastgate is a poker player from Denmark, best known as the winner of the Main Event at the 2008 World Series of Poker. At the time, he became the youngest player ever to win the event. He was consequently surpassed by Joe Cada in 2009.-Early life:Eastgate was raised in Dalum, a suburb of...
won in 2008 and
Joe CadaJoseph "Joe" Cada is an American professional poker player from Shelby Charter Township, Michigan, best known as the winner of the Main Event at the 2009 World Series of Poker ....
won in 2009. Hellmuth holds the records for most WSOP cashes (85) and most WSOP final tables (45), overtaking
T. J. CloutierThomas James "T.J." Cloutier is a professional poker player from Richardson, Texas. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006.-Early years:...
.
As of May 2010, Hellmuth has won $6,105,254 at the WSOP and ranks 10th on the WSOP All Time Money List. Hellmuth also is tied for 4th all time in number of times cashed in the WSOP Main Event. He has 7 Main Event cashes (1988, 1989, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2009), placing him behind Berry Johnston (10) and Doyle Brunson and Bobby Baldwin (8).
All of Hellmuth's bracelets have been in Texas hold'em, though he has had some success in non-hold'em events. As of the
2011 World SeriesThe 2011 World Series of Poker was the 42nd annual World Series of Poker . The WSOP is the most prestigious poker tournament in the world with the winner of the Main Event considered to be the World Champion. It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada between May...
, 18 of his 45 final tables are for a variety of games, including 2-7 Lowball, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, and Omaha hold'em (Pot Limit, Limit, and Hi-Lo); as well as mixed gamed like H.O.R.S.E and the Poker Players Championship. Of those 18 events, Hellmuth has finished runner-up five times.
World Series of Poker bracelets
| Year |
Tournament |
Prize (US$) |
| 1989 The 1989 World Series of Poker was held at Binion's Horseshoe. The 1989 Main Event was won by 24-year-old Phil Hellmuth, defeating defending champion Johnny Chan, and also breaking the record for the youngest player to win the WSOP Main Event . Had Johnny Chan won, he would have tied Johnny...
|
$10,000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship |
$755,000 |
| 1992 The 1992 World Series of Poker was held at Binion's Horseshoe. Among notable participants was actor Telly Savalas of Kojak fame.-Preliminary events:-Main Event:...
|
$5,000 Limit Hold'em |
$168,000 |
| 1993 -Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 220 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament.-Final table:-Other High Finishes:NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry....
|
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em |
$161,400 |
| 1993 |
$2,500 No Limit Hold'em |
$173,000 |
| 1993 |
$5,000 Limit Hold'em |
$138,000 |
| 1997 The 1997 World Series of Poker was held at Binion's Horseshoe. Most notably, it was the only WSOP where the final table of the main event took place outdoors, at the Fremont Street Experience, just outside of Binions...
|
$3,000 Pot Limit Hold'em |
$204,000 |
| 2001 -Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 613 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter what was the largest poker tournament ever played in a non-online casino at the time.-Final table:-Other High Finishes:...
|
$2,000 No Limit Hold'em |
$316,550 |
| 2003 -Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 839 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter what was the largest poker tournament ever played in a brick and mortar casino at the time...
|
$2,500 Limit Hold'em |
$171,400 |
| 2003 |
$3,000 No Limit Hold'em |
$410,860 |
| 2006 The 2006 World Series of Poker began on June 25, 2006 with "satellite" events, with regular play commencing on June 26 with the annual Casino Employee event, and the Tournament of Champions held on June 28 and 29...
|
$1,000 No Limit Hold'em with rebuys |
$631,863 |
| 2007 The 2007 World Series of Poker began on June 1, 2007. The $10,000 no-limit Texas hold 'em Main Event began on July 6 and was completed on the morning of July 18...
|
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em |
$637,254 |
During the Main Event of the 2005 World Series of Poker he accused an opponent of not being able to spell "poker" after the player put all of his money in the pot pre-flop with King-Jack against Hellmuth's Ace-King; Hellmuth's opponent hit a
three-outerIn a poker game with more than one betting round, an out is any unseen card that, if drawn, will improve a player's hand to one that is likely to win. Knowing the number of outs a player has is an important part of poker strategy. For example in draw poker, a hand with four diamonds has nine outs...
(a Jack on the river) to win the pot. At the
2006 World Series of PokerThe 2006 World Series of Poker began on June 25, 2006 with "satellite" events, with regular play commencing on June 26 with the annual Casino Employee event, and the Tournament of Champions held on June 28 and 29...
, Hellmuth captured his 10th World Series of Poker bracelet in the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em with rebuys event. At the time, it tied him with
Doyle BrunsonDoyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to...
and Johnny Chan for most bracelets. At the
2007 World Series of PokerThe 2007 World Series of Poker began on June 1, 2007. The $10,000 no-limit Texas hold 'em Main Event began on July 6 and was completed on the morning of July 18...
, Hellmuth won his record-breaking 11th bracelet in the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Event.
UltimateBet, Hellmuth's former sponsor, arranged for him to arrive at the 2007 WSOP Main Event in a race car, escorted by 11 models, one for each of his 11 WSOP bracelets. Hellmuth lost control of the vehicle and hit a concrete light fixture in the
Rio All Suite Hotel and CasinoThe Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino is located off the Las Vegas Strip in the unincorporated area of Paradise, Nevada, USA. It is better known as The Rio and is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Inc. The Rio was the first all suite resort in the Las Vegas area...
parking lot; Hellmuth showed up two hours late for the Main Event. The accident was briefly thought to be staged by some sources, but Hellmuth said it wasn't. He later made light of the accident in a television advertisement for Ultimatebet.
In 2008, as part of an Ultimatebet promotion, Hellmuth arrived at the 2008 WSOP Main Event in a convoy dressed in military garb, with eleven stars on his helmet (for the eleven WSOP bracelets he has won). On Day 5 of the 2008 WSOP, Hellmuth folded to Cristian Dragomir's bet on a flop of . Asked by the table to show his hand, Dragomir revealed that he had called Hellmuth's pre-flop re-raise with , considered to be a weak hand. Hellmuth proceeded to call Dragomir an "idiot," among other insults, and was eventually issued a warning by the floorperson for continued berating of another player. Other players including his friend
Mike MatusowMichael Matusow is an American professional poker player, residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table...
advised him to stop. Nonetheless, he continued to verbally abuse Dragomir until receiving a one-round penalty. The penalty was to be carried out at the beginning of play the next day. After Hellmuth had a private meeting with WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, Pollack overruled the floorperson's penalty. Hellmuth finished the tournament in 45th place, while Dragomir finished in 29th. Hellmuth apologized to Dragomir for his behavior the next day.
In the
2011 World Series of PokerThe 2011 World Series of Poker was the 42nd annual World Series of Poker . The WSOP is the most prestigious poker tournament in the world with the winner of the Main Event considered to be the World Champion. It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada between May...
, Phil finished 2nd in three tournaments, in the 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship, the Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship, and The Poker Player's Championship eight-game mix.
World Poker Tour
Though Hellmuth has not won a
World Poker TourThe World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...
(WPT) tournament, he has cashed 13 times and made four final tables in WPT events. He finished fourth 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
FoxwoodsFoxwoods Resort Casino is a hotel-casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, United States. Together with the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, it is one of the largest casino complexes in the world in terms of floor space for gaming. The entire resort comprises of space. The casino has over 380 gaming tables...
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 IveyPhillip Dennis "Phil" Ivey Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables...
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. In March 2010 Hellmuth made the final table in the $10,000 Shooting Star Event at the Bay 101 Casino 2nd in chips only to bust out in 6th place when his QQ was cracked by AJ on the river. He earned $117,000 for his efforts. In April he was the TV bubble boy finishing 7th at the $25,000 WPT World Championship. The finish gave Hellmuth over $152,000 for the tournament and made him the 122nd WPT poker made millionaire As of May 2010, Hellmuth has won $1,106,345 in WPT tournaments.
Other notable tournaments
Hellmuth makes regular appearances on episodes of
Poker After DarkPoker After Dark was an hour-long poker television program on NBC. The show made its debut on January 1, 2007, and was cancelled as another victim of the "Black Friday" criminal case due to the show's sponsorship by Full Tilt Poker, one of that case's defendants. on September 23, 2011 For its first...
, 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 $100,000. Hellmuth is the season 3 champion of
Late Night PokerLate Night Poker is the pioneering television show that helped pave the way for the explosion of interest in poker in the 2000's. With it's ground breaking use of "under the table" cameras that enabled the viewer to see each player's cards, the show became a cult hit on Channel 4 UK when it first...
.
In 2000 he won the Poker EM 7 Card Stud Main Event in Austria, billed the largest 7 Card Stud tournament in the world. Phil defeated 437 other players to win $106,250. In 2005, Hellmuth won the first
National Heads-Up Poker Championship-2006:- 2007 :-2008:In additional to the poker professionals, several poker-playing celebrities from other fields were invited: Gabe Kaplan, Don Cheadle, Jennifer Tilly, Shannon Elizabeth, Jason Alexander and Orel Hershiser. Also invited was Alisha Kunze of Greensburg, Indiana, who won her seat...
. He defeated
Men NguyenMen "The Master" Nguyễn is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player.-Early years:In 1967, he dropped out of school at age 13 and became a bus driver to help support his family. In early 1978, a staunch anti-Communist, he escaped from the Communist regime of Vietnam by boat and sailed with...
,
Paul PhillipsPaul Phillips is an American entrepreneur and poker player.-Programming:Phillips wrote the Boa web server while attending the University of California, San Diego, but no longer maintains it...
,
Huck SeedHuckleberry Seed is an American professional poker player best known for winning the main event of the 1996 World Series of Poker.-Early Life:...
,
Lyle BermanLyle Arnold Berman is a professional poker player and business executive.-Business:Berman grew up in Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota where he graduated in 1964 with a degree in business administration. He then went to work for his father's leather business, Berman Buckskin. ...
and
Antonio EsfandiariAntonio Esfandiari is a professional poker player, known for his elaborate chip tricks.-Early life:When he was 9 years old his family moved to San Jose, California...
on the way to the final against
Chris FergusonChristopher Philip Ferguson is an American professional poker player. He has won five World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...
whom he defeated in two out of three games. While trying to repeat in 2006, he lost in the first round to
Chip ReeseDavid Edward Reese , more commonly known as Chip Reese, was an American professional poker player and gambler from Centerville, Ohio...
. In 2007, Hellmuth did not play due to the PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker, a British tournament in which he took part. He won four out of his six group matches and eventually finished third in the finals. Hellmuth took part in the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, losing in the first round to
Tom DwanThomas Dwan Jr. is an American professional poker player who regularly plays online in the highest-stakes No-Limit Texas hold 'em and Pot-Limit Omaha games, primarily on Full Tilt Poker, where he plays under the screen name "durrrr"...
. In the 2009 NBC Heads Up Phil made it to the quarterfinals before he was eliminated; he earned $75,000 for his performance.
Other poker activities
Hellmuth appeared in seasons 1, 4 and 6 of GSN's
cash gameCash games, also sometimes referred to as ring games or live action games, are poker games played with "real" chips and money at stake, usually with no predetermined end time, with players able to enter and leave as they see fit...
show,
High Stakes PokerHigh Stakes Poker is a cash game poker television program broadcast by the cable television network GSN in the United States. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. It premiered on January 16, 2006 and ended on December 17, 2007 and it returns back on March 1, 2009 and is...
.
Hellmuth was involved with creating the software for UltimateBet and was formerly a member of Team UB.
Hellmuth has made several instructional poker videos, including his
Ultimate White To Black Belt Course and
Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Poker System. 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. His latest book is called "Deal Me In." This book is a collection of 20 chapters, each one focusing on one of the top 20 poker players in the world. It is the first book published by Phil Hellmuth's publishing company PhilsHousePublishing and was written by professional sports writer Stephen John. Chapters include first-person biographies of Phil Hellmuth himself, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Johnny Chan, Scotty Nguyen and others.
In May 2004 Phil Hellmuth partnered with
Oasys MobileOasys Mobile is a leading mobile game developer and publisher. Oasys develops top-ranked franchise games and applications based on brands such as Mattel, Sid Meier's Civilization IV, Railroad Tycoon, Pirates!, Phil Hellmuth, AROD and Hooters Calendar...
for the release of
Texas Hold'em by Phil Hellmuth. At the time it was one of the 10 most popular multi-player mobile phone games available. In spring 2006, Hellmuth replaced
Phil GordonPhilip Stewart Gordon is an American professional poker player, commentator and author.-Personal life:Gordon was born in El Paso, Texas. He spent his formative years in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Gordon began attending Georgia Tech at the age of 15 while still attending high school...
as commentator on Bravo's
Celebrity Poker ShowdownCelebrity Poker Showdown was a celebrity game show on the cable network Bravo. It was a limited-run series in which celebrities played poker, and ran eight tournaments during its five-season run....
. Along with
Annie DukeAnnie Duke is a professional poker player and author who won a bracelet in the 2004 World Series of Poker $2,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Event and was the winner of the 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, where she earned the Winner-Take-All prize of $2,000,000...
, Hellmuth is a poker coach on Fox Sports Network’s Best Damn Poker Show, which is sponsored by the poker site Ultimatebet.net.
In October 2008, Hellmuth launched www.pokerbrat.com, a webstore where customers can purchase Hellmuth and non-Hellmuth brand poker gear. In May 2009, Phil Hellmuth released the book
Deal Me In: 20 Of The World's Top Poker Players Share The Heartbreaking and Inspiring Stories of How They Turned Pro.
Personality and controversy
On one occasion, Hellmuth so infuriated Sam Grizzle that the two men had a physical altercation. Hellmuth claims that the fight was a draw and that neither one of them was injured. In the first week of
Poker After DarkPoker After Dark was an hour-long poker television program on NBC. The show made its debut on January 1, 2007, and was cancelled as another victim of the "Black Friday" criminal case due to the show's sponsorship by Full Tilt Poker, one of that case's defendants. on September 23, 2011 For its first...
on NBC, Hellmuth asked fellow pros Shawn Sheikhan,
Steve ZolotowSteve Zolotow is an American businessman and professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada. He has won two bracelets at the World Series of Poker. He was one of the regulars at the famed Mayfair Club while he lived in New York City.-New York Years:...
,
Gus HansenGustav "Gus" Hansen is a professional Danish poker player who lives in Monaco. In his poker career, Hansen has won three World Poker Tour open titles, the 2007 Aussie Millions main event and was the season one winner of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament...
and
Huck SeedHuckleberry Seed is an American professional poker player best known for winning the main event of the 1996 World Series of Poker.-Early Life:...
to stop talking while it was his turn to act on his hand after
Annie DukeAnnie Duke is a professional poker player and author who won a bracelet in the 2004 World Series of Poker $2,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Event and was the winner of the 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, where she earned the Winner-Take-All prize of $2,000,000...
raised him. They initially complied, but when Hellmuth began to talk, he was mocked by Seed, who said, "please be quiet so I can talk," eliciting laughter from the other players. Hellmuth then threatened never to play on the show again and walked off the set. After the show's producers intervened, Hellmuth returned and was eliminated a few hands later by Sheikhan. Duke remained quiet while the drama played out, though in a later interview, she described Hellmuth's behavior as "one of the biggest overreactions I have ever seen."
On December 20, 2008 Hellmuth was playing $200/$400 heads up limit hold em on UltimateBet, where he was at the time a spokesman, when an apparent
software glitchA software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
occurred. The $5599 pot was awarded to Hellmuth, even though he held the worst hand. (His opponent held for Three Kings and Hellmuth held Ten Two for two pair.) This hand became the subject of considerable controversy in online forums due to Hellmuth's later comments about the hand. Immediately after the other player informed him of the error in awarding the pot, Hellmuth simply commented, "You wanna play or what?" and "I play U limit, right now." In addition, when later questioned about the hand, Hellmuth commented that he had experienced such errors a hundred times in his online career, "maybe 50 the wrong way to them and 50 the wrong way to me." (This contradicted the official statement of Ultimatebet that no other cases of this error had been found.) Finally, the previous cheating scandal at Ultimatebet led to suspicions about the plausibility of the company's explanation for the computer bug that they claim caused the error.
External links