Phil Hellmuth Professional Profile
Despite his reputation as a sore loser at the poker tables, Phil "The Poker Brat" Hellmuth holds an impressive tournament record. Throughout his 20 year poker career, Phil has managed to win 11 World Series of Poker Bracelets and take first place in over 50 other major tournaments. With over $10.5 million in tournament winnings to his name, Phil Hellmuth has shown the world that he's no fluke.
He was born to a well-to-do family as the oldest child of five. His parents both worked at the University of Wisconsin, where they both hold advanced degrees. His mother was a major positive motivation in his life, possibly instilling in him the drive to succeed at a young age.
Much to his parents' surprise, however, Phil only attended college at the University of Wisconsin for three years before dropping out. His reason? To play poker. It must have been a tough decision considering the family he came from but it ended up being the right one. Not long after leaving the university, at the age of 24, Phil went on to become the youngest player in history to win the World Series of Poker Main Event.
That victory alone would have been impressive but it was only the beginning of what would become a long, record breaking career. Over the next 20 years, Phil would go on to win 10 more bracelets at the World Series and take first place in over 50 tournaments.
It's a tournament record that would speak for itself but Phil likes to have his say as well. In case you're not aware of his poker achievements, he's more than happy to let you know. With a record like his, you'd think it would be hard to over-hype it but you'd be wrong. The man once claimed "I am the Jack Nicklaus of poker, the Tiger Woods of poker, the Mozart of poker."
In fact, it's his mouth that's earned him more fame than anything else. It's kind of a shame really because he really is a talented player but the first thing people think of when they hear "Phil Hellmuth" is his mouth. There are Youtube videos galore of Phil Hellmuth berating players, throwing his hands up in frustration and even almost getting into fights with other players.
There are even reports that Phil Hellmuth actually did get into a fistfight with another poker player, one by the name of Sam Grizzle. Despite being over six-and-a-half feet tall, rumor has it that Phil Hellmuth lost the fight after receiving one punch in the face from Sam. But to Phil's credit, the guy's last name was Grizzle.
On a more serious note, controversy still surrounds Phil's unyielding support of the poker site, Ultimate Bet. The poker site was once a leader in the online poker industry but it has been rife with software problems and cheating scandals. In one instance, Phil Hellmuth was incorrectly awarded a pot that was supposed to go to his opponent.
His stance on the matter was to ignore the problem and encourage the other player to forget about it. He later said that he's seen it a hundred times (the pot going the wrong way) and it's about 50/50 between the number of times he's won pots he shouldn't have lost pots he should have won. His nickname at Ultimate Bet is PhilHellmuth.
Away from the tables, Phil leads a relatively normal life with his wife and two kids in Palo Alto, California. He now spends time working on his website, endorsing Ultimate Bet and selling a line of poker instructional books and videos.
Phil Facts:
- Lifetime tournament earnings over $10,500,000
- Sponsors the controversial poker site Ultimate Bet
- Won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1989 at the age of 24
- Ranked 8th in the WSOP all time money list
- 11 bracelets won at the WSOP