Champion of Poker

“I can dodge bullets baby!” That is one of the most famous sayings by one of the men that most poker players love to hate, Phil Hellmuth. Phil Hellmuth is probably known as much for his antics at the poker table as he is for his prowess as a poker player.

Hellmuth started playing poker at the University of Wisconsin and mentioned in his book Play Poker Like the Pros about his trials during his college days. After attending college for three years, he decided to drop out of college to play poker full time. He mentioned on TV how that his parents were horrified that he left college to play poker. In the end, his decision seemed like the best one he could have made.

Phil Hellmuth exploded onto the poker scene at the 1989 World Series of Poker when he defeated 2 time defending champion Johnny Chan. When Phil won that bracelet, he was the youngest Main Event winner in the history of the World Series of Poker. That record still stands to this day. What players did not realize then was just how much of an impact that Phil was going to have on the poker world.

Since 1989, Hellmuth has proceeded to win 11 gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker. This is the current all-time record. All of his 11 bracelets are in Holdem. Three are in Limit Holdem, one is in Pot Limit Holdem, and the rest are in No Limit Holdem. Hellmuth has made numerous final tables in other games at the WSOP, but he has never broken through with a non-holdem bracelet. Norman Chad once said about Hellmuth, “He is called a one trick pony, but boy what a trick.”

Among his accomplishments outside of the WSOP, Hellmuth is the first ever National Heads-Up Poker Championship. He won the title in 2005 when he eliminated Chris “Jesus” Ferguson heads-up to take the title. One of his largest wins outside of Holdem came in 2000 when he won the Poker EM 2000 which was the World Championship for Seven Card Stud. To date this is Hellmuth’s only win in a stud tournament.

As much as he is known for his play at the table, he is also known for his antics. He commonly likes to berate the play of his fellow players at the table, especially when they put a bad beat on him. He once said after getting knocked out of an event that, “If luck weren’t involved, I guess I’d win every one.” Some of his antics rub players the wrong way while others are highly entertained. Away from the table, Hellmuth is said to have a very giving nature and is considered to be a great guy. His antics at the tables are said to be a direct result of his driving need to win at poker.

Love him or hate him, it is hard to deny that Phil Hellmuth is one of the top poker players in the world. At 44, Hellmuth still has a lot of years left at the tables. It will be interesting to see where his poker career takes him from here.