Phil Hellmuth – Poker Brat

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While he may be getting a little long in the tooth to be called “Poker Brat” much longer (he’ll be 46 this July) nobody in poker has cultivated a more carefully crafted persona than Phil Hellmuth. Love him or hate him, it’s all the same to him, as long as it keeps him in the spotlight, furthers his bad boy image, and puts more players on tilt than anyone else in the room.

Since 2007 his elaborate entrances to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) have become a spectacle for fans and detractors alike. He has worn costumes from that of a race car driver, accidentally crashing his car in the parking lot, to arriving in a jeep dressed as General Patton, to entering dressed as Caesar with a small legion of scantily clad women.

This year he will be going as a boxer, according to a “Train for Poker” promo page at UB.com, the online poker site he endorses, and the UB video channel features a series of videos by Phil comparing the cardinal principles of boxing to playing the game of poker.

And while all of Phil’s grandstanding WSOP entrance parades haven’t necessarily translated into a winning formula, Hellmuth still leads in total bracelets won. He has eleven, while both Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson are hot on his heels with 10 apiece.

In 1989, Hellmuth made history by becoming the youngest player ever to win the WSOP Main Event when he was 24, a record that he held until 2008, when 22-year-old Peter Eastgate dislodged him as youngest. (Incidentally, Joe Cada, last year’s Main Event winner is now the youngest at 21.)

But it is for his obnoxious table antics for which he is best known. Constant chatter and insults directed to fellow players are common, as well as bragging remarks such as his famous boast that if it weren’t for luck he’d win every game. He is fond of commenting on opponent’s lack of brainpower, often calling players idiots, and once came to blows with fellow poker Sam Grizzle, who knocked the poker brat to the pavement outside Binion’s Horseshoe.

During the 2008 WSOP, Hellmuth’s verbal abuse of fellow player Cristian Dragomir got so bad he was issued a warning and then finally received a one-round penalty that was to be carried out at the beginning of the next day’s play. Overnight, Hellmuth appealed to the then WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack who overruled the decision. Hellmuth finished the tournament in 45th place, while Dragomir came in 29^th.

Hellmuth has made instructional poker videos, written numerous articles, authored books such as Play Poker Like the Pros, the autobiographical-themed Poker Brat, The Greatest Poker Hands Ever Played and Bad Beats and Lucky Draws. His newest book called Deal Me In is a collection highlighting the top 20 poker players in the world and contains first-person biographies of Hellmuth himself, as well as Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Chris Ferguson, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen, among others.

He has appeared on television shows, and has an online poker merchandise website at www.pokerbrat.com.

Phil Hellmuth’s World Series of Poker bracelets

1. 1989    $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship         $755,000
2. 1992   $5,000 Limit Hold’em                                          $168,000
3. 1993    $1,500 No Limit Hold’em                                     $161,400
4. 1993   $2,500 No Limit Hold’em                                     $173,000
5. 1993   $5,000 Limit Hold’em                                          $138,000
6. 1997   $3,000 Pot Limit Hold’em                                    $204,000
7. 2001   $2,000 No Limit Hold’em                                     $316,550
8. 2003   $2,500 Limit Hold’em                                          $171,400
9. 2003   $3,000 No Limit Hold’em                                     $410,860
10. 2006   $1,000 No Limit Hold’em with rebuys                 $631,863
11. 2007   $1,500 No Limit Hold’em                                     $637,254