Phil Hellmuth is the definition of love him or hate him. With his volatile table behavior, and brash demeanor, the hardcore poker fanbase, have a polarized view of Phil. He’s either the nuts, or air, and nothing in between.
Combine that with his long list of accomplishments, including 11 bandar slot pulsa Bracelets, a 1989 Main Event Champion, $13,000,000 in tournament winnings, fourth all-time on the tourney winning list, and sixth on the WSOP all-time winning list, and you get the usual cast of haters.
To add fuel to the fire, most of Hellmuth’s bracelets have come before the poker boom when WSOP fields were a fraction of what they are now. Also some of the plays Hellmuth made on televised high stakes cash games, such as poker after dark, and the Big Game, were suspect to say the least, plus his rants at the table and inability to deal with variance has seemed fishy to many players. All that together and it seemed very plausible that Hellmuth’s best days were behind him, and that the young gun online pros had overtaken him and left him in the dust.
And that’s not including controversies away from the table, including being the public face of UB, a company found guilty of cheating players, public feuds with other pros, and overly dramatic WSOP entrances dressed as General Patton and Julius Caesar that seemed to border on megalomania. Combine all this with Hellmuth’s constant boasting and bragging to be the best, left even the most pro-Hellmuth fan questioning Phil’s sanity. With Phil’s last WSOP bracelet win in 2007, the anti-Phil sentiment seemed to reach its culmination earlier this year with the release of Dusty Schmidt’s book, Don’t Listen to Phil Helmuth.
At this year’s WSOP Phil has answered back, and answered back with authority. With two second place finishes at this year’s WSOP, in event #16, the $10K 2-draw, and the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship, Hellmuth’s claim to be the best poker player in the world no longer seems like the ramblings of a deluded former champion. Both of these two events are non-Hold’em, and show that despite Hellmuth’s 11 bracelets all coming from Hold’em events, he is dangerous at all forms of poker.
Finishing second in the event #16 2-7 draw in itself was a huge statement. Then taking second in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, a super deep stacked, slow structure 8-game format featuring 125 of the world’s best players was a massive exclamation point in Phil’s career. This tournament, with its deep stack mixed game format, and slow levels over five days, is specifically designed to rule out luck and see who is the best poker player in the world.
Hellmuth was able to get it heads up against Brian Rast with a 5-1 chip lead before getting his money in multiple times with strong hands and simply not getting the cards he needed. These two second place wins are enough to put Phil Hellmuth in first place for the WSOP Player of the Year race.
Phil’s back baby. Having distanced himself from UB last year, just before Black Friday, and now playing like a champ at this year’s WSOP when all the lights were on him, Hellmuth is the one player this year whose stock has risen the most. Hellmuth’s focus and determination have transformed him into one of the most sought after free agents in the poker world. And if poker is regulated in the near future, expect to see a lot more of Phil Hellmuth including lucrative sponsorships from new US based online poker rooms. Few players if any can claim to be as famous as Hellmuth to the casual poker fan as well as have the results he has had as of late. Assuming Hellmuth can steer clear of any further major controversy, this is likely the start of a massive heater in the story of Phil Hellmuth’s career.
