Phil Hellmuth

Phil Hellmuth is a type of player you can either like or hate. You just can’t stay neutral on this aspect. Sure, he is cocky, he does indeed consider himself the best poker player in the world, and he does sometimes end up acting childish. Regardless of all that though, the guy probably IS the best poker player in the world.

Take a look at his accomplishments and you’ll realize that this guy can not only talk the talk, he can just as well walk the walk too when needed. He is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame, and – the fact that probably talks most about what kind of player he is – he has the most WSOP bracelets to date, no less than 11 of them.

It all began in style, in 1989, when the 24 years old Hellmuth did nothing less than to win the WSOP main event and pocket $755,000.

That would only be the beginning of a terrific and quite unprecedented WSOP run that would earn Phil over $5,600,000 and eleven WSOP bracelets, over the span of 18 years.

The University of Wisconsin graduate went on to win another bracelet in 1992, in the $5,000 FL Holdem event, which added a further $188,000 to his bankroll.

In 1993, he set another record: he became the poker player with the most WSOP bracelets won in a single year.

He won one in the $1,500 FL Holdem event that year, one in the $2,500 NL Holdem one, and one in the $5,000 NL Holdem event. He did indeed look like nothing could stop him then.

During the following three years, it appeared that Hellmuth’s crazy 1993 winning streak would remain the biggest achievement of his WSOP career indeed. In 1997 though, he struck back with a vengeance, winning yet another bracelet in the $3,000 PL Holdem event. That was not the last the WSOP would see of this player though. Hellmuth returned no less than 5 times after that, to win WSOP bracelets and to set the record he’s famous for today.
He won in 2001, he won 2 bracelets in 2003, one in 2006 and one in 2007.

Being much less successful in the WPT, he’s still made 2 final tables and finished in the money 9 times.

He won the National Heads-Up Poker Championships in 2005, and he took down two Poker After Dark titles in 2008. He was no stranger to High Stakes Poker either. His career earnings total almost $10 million.

His abrasive, and sometimes childish behavior has earned him the nickname: "poker Brat”. One of his most memorable antics took place on Poker After Dark, where, after getting into an argument with fellow professionals Shawn Sheikhan and Gus Hansen, he left the table and threatened to quit the tournament altogether.

Currently, Phil Hellmuth represents Ultimate Bet, the online poker company which planned to stage a spectacular entry for their star professional to the 2007 WSOP main event. To that end, they had a race car prepared in which Hellmuth would show up. He then promptly crashed the vehicle in the parking lot of the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino prompting Ultimate Bet management to change plans for his spectacular entry.