PHIL HELLMUTH, JR.

You can call him Phillip, or you can call him Phil, but however you greet him, you’ll have to look up to say hi, because Madison, Wisconsin-born Phil Hellmuth, Jr., stands on a stack of poker and life achievements that make him the envy of poker players and non-players alike. Known both for his lightning skill and his sometimes unpredictable theatrics, Hellmuth has been called the “Michael Jordan of poker” and the “John McEnroe of cards.”

His stated career goal is to become the best poker player of all time. With nine World Series of Poker victories, four Hall of Fame titles, and more than 50 tournament titles, Hellmuth is well on his way to cementing his poker legacy, one that began shortly after his graduation from the University of Wisconsin. In fact, his Parade list of achievements began in 1989, at the age of 24, with his first World Series of Poker title. The youngest person to ever accomplish such a feat, he took home an astounding $775,000. This “wunderkind” has since amassed dozens of major tournament wins internationally, including wins at The World’s Biggest Seven-card Stud Tournament in Austria and Late Night Poker in Great Britain. 

After all of his success it is no surprise that in 1996, Hellmuth’s poker-playing peers voted him the “best all-around tournament poker player in the world.” Oakley eyewear and EA Sports call him a “poker icon.” Hellmuth is third in World Series of Poker wins with nine and is second on the all-time World Series of Poker money list with over $3.6 million in earnings. Hellmuth has five World Poker Tour top-ten finishes. 2005 started with a bang for Hellmuth when he took first place at the Golden Nugget’s National Heads-Up Poker tournament against 64 of the world’s best poker players. 

But his stardom doesn’t stop there. He is an incisive writer whose books define how the game of poker is played. He is the author of Texas-Hold’em, Play Poker Like the Pros, a New York Times best-seller, and Bad Beats and Lucky Draws. Play Poker like the Pros has been translated into French and Czech. His autobiography, Poker Brat, is currently in the works.   

A frequent guest on ESPN, Hellmuth is also a coveted commentator for numerous poker tournaments. He has been featured in over 20 television specials on poker and Las Vegas and is also a representative for Edge TV gaming network along with actor Toby McGuire. He writes a monthly column in Card Player magazine and a weekly newspaper column syndicated nationally by United Media. Hellmuth endorses only the best quality products. He brings his poker wisdom to the masses with his instructional video/dvd, Phil Hellmuth’s Million Dollar Poker System. Phil Hellmuth’s Texas Hold’em dual dvd, by Masters of Poker, was just nominated for a DVD Entertainment Award for “Best Direct-To-Disc.” Hellmuth’s Texas Hold-em cell phone game (by Summus) is taking off. On Verizon, it ranks #10 of all games available through Get it Now (Verizon’s virtual store) and #2 in the Casino game category.

With such unparalleled career accomplishments Hellmuth hasn’t sacrificed his wholesome family life. When he is not in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or tournaments worldwide, he is home in Palo Alto, California with his wife Kathy (a doctor at Stanford University) and his greatest accomplishments - his two sons, Phillip III and Nicholas. As far as becoming the best all-around player of all time, anyone who knows Hellmuth would say it is a safe bet.