Phil Hellmuth: “The Poker Brat”

Phil Hellmuth Jr. was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin to a devout Catholic family. His father, Phil Hellmuth Sr. was a dean at the University of Wisconsin, while his mother, Lynn Hellmuth, was a sculptor. He was the first born child, but he’d eventually have four siblings. The first card games he remembers playing were with his grandmother, who he still believes was the most spirited card player he’s ever competed against.

Encouraged by his father, Phil enrolled at the University of Wisconsin after high school. It was during his time there that he was first introduced to Texas Hold’ em, often playing against his classmates in the student union. Instantly hooked on this game, he started entering other competitions in the area as he wanted more opportunities to win even more money. He played against doctors, business professionals, and other wealthy players who he was easily able to win money off of. Once he started bringing in a decent amount of cash, he decided to drop out of college and head to Las Vegas.

Having just a small bankroll to work with, it wouldn’t be long before he would go bust. He had no choice but to move back to Wisconsin to build up his bankroll by working at Blaine Farms. At the farm he would do any task set before him from tilling the soil to de-tasseling the corn. Once he saved up enough money, he would return to Las Vegas for as long as his bankroll would allow. He would repeat this process several times before he made enough consistent money to stay in Las Vegas for good.

Phil poured hours upon hours into the poker tables of Las Vegas, grinding away at the low limit cash games, slowly building up his bankroll. At this point in time, he was still trying to pay off his student loans, so he never really felt the financial gains. It would still be a couple years before Phil would feel confident enough to enter the larger tournaments, but he always knew he one day wanted to be regular attendant of the World Series of Poker.

Phil’s first experiences in competing at the World Series of Poker would definitely be considered positive. In 1988, he managed to land a fifth place finish at the $1500 Seven Card Stud Split Event which earned him a $15,000 cash prize. That same year he placed 33^rd overall in the WSOP No Limit Hold’em Championship.

Although this was the first year Phil Hellmuth’s name appeared on WSOP’s winner’s list, it certainly wouldn’t be the last time we heard from him. Phil actually went on to win fourteen World Series of Poker bracelets over the years, the most anyone has ever been able to win. We have provided an up-to-date list of all of the events he has won, including the cash award he was granted.

When Phil won the No Limit Hold’em Championship in 1989, he became the youngest person to win the competition at only twenty-four years old after going face to face with two-time winning champion, Johnny Chan. Winning the championship gave Phil the confidence he needed to improve his skills and keep moving forward. He won the No Limit Hold’em Championship thirteen years later, and brought home his biggest cash prize yet: $1.3 million. We predict that Phil Helmuth will continue to amaze us in the future, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he came home with another WSOP bracelet soon.

The World Series of Poker isn’t the only major tournament that Phil Hellmuth has excelled in, as he has also done very well at the World Poker Tour. He may not own a World Poker Tour title, but he has made several final tables and has come close to winning quite a few times over the years. In 2002, Phil came close to a title in the WPT’s 3^rd Annual 49’er Gold Rush Bonanza where he landed a fourth place finish. The following year he took third place at the No Limit Hold’em Event of the World Poker Tour Finals.

Phil has also played on several seasons of Game Show Network’s High Stakes Poker. There is a mix of both professionals and amateurs on the show that compete against each other in high stakes cash games. The minimum buy-in for this show is $100,000, but some people have bought in for over $1 million dollars before. Phil may have never won this competition, but he has enjoyed the encounters he’s had with the other competitors.

Another show that Phil Hellmuth has appeared on several times is NBC’s Poker After Dark, where he managed to win his first tournament on the first episode of the third season. It wouldn’t be the only time he took home the $100,000 grand prize either, as he also went on to win again just two weeks later. Although Phil never competed on Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Showdown, he did become the commentator for the show in 2006 to replace Phil Gordon.

Phil Hellmuth has his own Poker Brat clothing line, where people can choose from a variety of different styled t-shirts and hats. Each shirt and hat costs approximately $30, and they can be purchased right off the pokerbrat.com website. Phil also sells DVDs, mobile games, and other miscellaneous poker merchandise.

Phil Hellmuth has written over ten books and counting; all of these book are available to be purchased on his website as well. These books are extremely advantageous to anyone who is considering pursuing a career as a professional poker player. His books cover a variety of subjects from tips on how to succeed in tournaments to secret strategies that help players who are interested in online poker. Below is a complete list of all the available books to choose from.

Phil most recently contributed to a book called, Deal Me In, where he was able to share his success story in his own words. Other professional players that contributed to that book were Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, and Daniel Negreanu to name a few. This was actually the first book to be published through Phil’s own publishing company which is appropriately called, Phil’s House Publishing.

For quite some time, Phil Hellmuth became the face of Ultimate Bet. He played for them online and he could be found with Ultimate Bet gear on at all the major tournaments. When he discovered that the company had been stealing millions of dollars from its players, he was devastated. People started speculating that he was somehow involved in the scandal, and he started to worry that his name would be tarnished. He was okay with people thinking he was the Poker Brat, but he didn’t want people to think he was associated with any form of cheating.

Luckily an audio tape was released by a former employee, on which Russ Hamilton admits to cheating players out of their money through using the “God-mode” feature built into their software. Basically, it allows players to see their opponents’ hole cards, making it much easier for them to win. Within this tape, Russ mentions the fact that they would be keeping Phil out of the loop, as they didn’t think he would support their actions.

Phil Hellmuth released this statement to his agent after listening to the voice recordings for himself,

Phil Hellmuth could have walked away right there and then; his name was cleared and he had no obligation to stay with the company. However, Phil thought it was extremely important to make sure that the customers were given back the money that was stolen from them. Although not all of the customers affected by this scandal received all the money that was owed to them, those that did receive money have Phil Hellmuth to thank.

Phil and his wife, Katherine Sanborn, live in Palo Alto, California. Katherine works full time as a psychiatrist at Stanford University. Together they have two sons named Philip III and Nicholas. Even with as busy as Phil’s life gets, he still makes sure his family is his main priority. Spending time with his sons is especially important to him, and he will occasionally bring them to the World Series of Poker or other major tournaments to watch him compete. His wife is often there to show her support as well.

Over the course of his career, Phil has made over nineteen million dollars through live tournaments alone. He’s currently number two on California’s All Time Money List and number six on the United States All Time Money List, according to the Hendon Mob. Phil doesn’t just hoard all of this money for himself though, as he actually spends a good portion of his money on others in need.

His heart felt burdened for the people who lost their homes due to Hurricane Katrina, so he organized a charity poker tournament to help raise money for the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund. There was a $300 buy-in for the tournament, and half of that money would go directly to the Red Cross. On top of that, Phil agreed to match all donations, up to $10,000.

This wasn’t the only time Phil Hellmuth had extended his hand to help those in need, as he regularly donates to a wide variety of different organizations. Ante Up For Africa, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, the Starkey Hearing Foundation, and the Wall Street Warfighters Foundation are just some of the causes that both Phil and his wife have poured their time and money into. In a 2014 interview with Bluff Magazine, Phil revealed his true feelings about charitable causes,