Phil Hellmuth
Poker aside, Phil Hellmuth
is probably one of the most disliked players amongst
fans on the circuit. Amongst players, he’s one of the
most respected and feared in tournament poker. His
outspoken style at the table (including likely blowups
at opponents who suck out on him) has raised eyebrows as
to his adherence of proper poker etiquette. The fact is
that Hellmuth is one of the best Texas Hold’em
tournament players alive and continues to dominate large
fields with his conventional, but often unpredictable,
tight-aggressive style of play.
This Madison, Wisconsin native is actually Phil Hellmuth
Jr., named after his father who served as a college
dean. These days, we just call him the “Poker Brat”. His
father is probably one of his biggest fans and you will
often find him sitting in the stands attending a
tournament that his son is playing in. It was in college
that Hellmuth realized his potential at poker and
eventually left his studies to take up the game
fulltime. In 1989 at the age of 24, he won the WSOP Main
Event setting a record for youngest player to ever do
so. That record still holds. Over the course of his
stunning poker career, Hellmuth has racked up a total of
9 WSOP bracelets and trails only legends Johnny Chan and
Doyle Brunson for most all-time.
Phil Hellmuth’s list of tournament accomplishments is
lengthy, but of course his 9 WSOP wins ranks first in
importance. In 1996, his peers voted him the best
all-around poker tournament player. More recently, he
captured the National Heads-Up Poker Tournament title in
2005 and took a $500,000 prize for his win. While often
criticized for not being able to close out tournaments,
Hellmuth has a huge number of final table finishes under
his belt including making it to the end in 5 World Poker
Tour major events.
Hellmuth is also almost as well-known for his
promotional efforts. He has written 3 books on poker
strategy including Play Poker Like the Pros, which
peaked its success on the New York Times Bestseller
list. He also puts out strategy DVDs and even a cell
phone game with his name attached to it. Potential
future offerings include an autobiography and even a
movie based on his life.
While many become easily annoyed while watching Phil
Hellmuth from home, he is one of my favorite characters
to watch at the poker table. One of the most memorable
moments came from the 2005 WSOP when he let into a
player for drawing out on his A-K with K-J: “They call
this the World Series of Poker? These are the worst
players in the world. I just lost to a guy who can’t
even spell poker. P-O-K-E-R. This is donkey (expletive),
man.” While he often crosses the line, he has the nerve
to speak his mind about bad beats that most of us have
the civility to withhold. The fact is that when he
complains and criticizes his opponents he’s usually right. Hellmuth still manages to dominate tournaments while
employing a similar strategy to my own in a poker world
that’s being dominated by blind aggression. Phil
Hellmuth also plays online for
Ultimate Bet.
Back
to Poker Players.
This article or portions of this article
may not be used in any form without permission.
|
