What an incredible performance by Phil Hellmuth at this year's World Series of Poker. He has finished second in two events, cashed in another 3 events, and right now he's in 3th place in the $50,000 Poker Player's Championship with only 9 players left. There is no doubt whatsoever that he will miss out on the final table table (8 players) tomorrow and fight for his 12th gold bracelet. Yes, you heard right: Phil Hellmuth has won not less than 11 WSOP gold bracelets in his poker career!
In 1989, 24-year-old Phil Hellmuth became the youngest person ever to win the World Series of Poker Main Event by defeating two time champion Johnny Chan. No one broke that record for 19 years! In 1993, Hellmuth set another record by winning 3 bracelet in one single year. In total, he has reached 44 WSOP final tables and has 83 money finished. His biggest tournament cash was at 1989 WSOP $10k NLH World Championship in which he finished 1st for $755,000! However, that record can be beaten already tomorrow if he finish 1st ($1,7 million) or 2nd ($1 million) in the Poker Player's Championship. Below you can see all the WSOP events Hellmuth has won through the years. The picture was taken after his classic $10k NLH World Championship win in 1989.
Year, Tournament, Prize (US$)
1989 $10,000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship $755,000
1992 $5,000 Limit Hold'em $168,000
1993 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em $161,400
1993 $2,500 No Limit Hold'em $173,000
1993 $5,000 Limit Hold'em $138,000
1997 $3,000 Pot Limit Hold'em $204,000
2001 $2,000 No Limit Hold'em $316,550
2003 $2,500 Limit Hold'em $171,400
2003 $3,000 No Limit Hold'em $410,860
2006 $1,000 No Limit Hold'em with rebuys $631,863
2007 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em $637,254
World Poker Tour
Apart from Phil Hellmuth's success in the WSOP, he has cashed 13 times and made four final tables in World Poker Tour. He finished 4th in the $3,000 NLH WPT Event at the 3rd Annual 49'er Gold Rush Bonanza in 2002 and 3rd in the $10,000 NLH WPT Event at the World Poker finalist at Foxwoods in 2003. He finished in sixth place at the 2008 WPT L.A. Poker Classic, and finished in 3rd place in two WPT Invitational Events, the World Poker Tour by the book in 2004 and the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II in 2006.
BIO
Phil Hellmuth grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. He was the oldest of 5 children in a Cataholic family to Phil Hellmuth, Sr., a dean at the Univeristy of Wisconsin, and Lynn Hellmuth, a sculptor. He began playing cards with his family and then learned to play Texas Hold'em at the UW student union. He dropped out of University of Wisconsin after three years, after winning some decent money in local poker games. He traveled to Las Vegas 10 times before he started to win. Many times he returned to Madinson to build a bankroll by working as a field laborer. In 1988, he started playing tournaments with higher buy-ins and ended up winning around $250,000 in only a year's time. However, it was in 1989, when he won the 1989 WSOP $10k NLH World Championship for $755k, that he became a well-known face in the poker world.
As of 2011, his total live tournament winnings exceed $11,950,000 and his ranked fifth on the All Time Money List, behind Erik Seidel, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, and Jamie Gold. However, we can only speculate in how much he has won/lost online and live in different cash games. One thing is for sure though! Phil Hellmuth is one of the best poker players in history, he's one of the most recognizable faces on television, with frequent appearances not only as a poker player but as a host on ESPN, Bravo, and NBC. For his fantastic poker results and his contributions to poker Phil was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame back in 2007 - an achievement that very few players has accomplished.
