It seemed quiet Sunday in July what we just experienced. Instead, the sensational news of the 17th WSOP bracelet of his career came for record player Phil Hellmuth on the Italian afternoon.
Two years after bracelet #16, the umpteenth endorsement has arrived for Phil, considered by many to be live poker’s GOAT. Can we counteract the cold numbers at all? At least when it comes to Las Vegas casinos, it’s hard to find someone on his level.
So let’s look at all of Hellmuth’s numbers and achievements in the American Series. But let’s start with the news and translate for you the hot interview Hellmuth published after the bracelet was delivered.
His references to some kind of poker karma that was obviously on his side are no longer surprising. Don’t miss the touching reference to Brunson and a final comment on Hellmuth’s reputation in the poker community…
The hot words of the winner
It must not have been easy for the staff of Pokernews and the WSOP to report on Phil Hellmuth’s 17th triumph in the media. The Super Turbo Bounty tournament was actually the last tournament of the day to practically come to an end 5 a.m. Vegas. A select few were able to film Hellmuth’s celebrations in the latest commercial against Justin Zaki, who won with a full-versus-flush.
Media Hellmuth from Palo Alto certainly couldn’t escape the ritual photos and microphones. Here are his first words released to Pokernews: “I probably have a smile on my face. I tried not to complain about bad luck in certain commercials, everything happens for a reason. I probably was Eliminated in previous tournament to win this one. I had three days off, which helped me a lot.
I was lucky. At one point I only had two blinds, but on the next break I forced myself to break. I hit all in with A-3 vs. A-5. Shortly thereafter I won with AQ against A-10. The key hand was the one that won 7-7 against AQ when there were only two open tables. Then I won another flip with JJ vs AK. So never complain, just focus and do your best. I repeated it to myself over and over again”
At some point you might think of a game break considering the schedules and everything else. Instead, Hellmuth’s triumph came in one breath: “In the end I wanted to abandon the game and come back the next day, but the others wanted to keep playing, Thank God“.
Hellmuth says about the last heads-up: “Unbelievable. When the two pair flopped, I thought about how to get him to fold. Before his all-in, I snapped. I cheered for the 4 and the full house on the turn, not thinking about the 5 of spades that might lose me on the river“.
There’s also room for an oddity surrounding the legendary Doyle Brunson. Today the WSOP is celebrating Texas Dolly and Hellmuth will have to give a speech honoring the vanished myth. Coincidentally, in the tournament he just won, Hellmuth also won a big hand 10-2: “I swear to God I thought of Doyle at this time. I was afraid of being beaten, but when the opponent thought long and hard, I knew I was good. I was just hoping he would get involved at this point“.
We close with a rather significant sentence from Hellmuth, speaking of his reputation and that of his colleagues: “For the first time this year 2023 I feel like all the great players respect me and I’m among the best ever in live poker. It’s a good thing“.
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— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) July 2, 2023
Hellmuth’s career in brief
Is it possible to summarize Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr.’s poker history in a few lines? We try. At the age of 24, the American made the headlines the youngest winner of a Main Event WSOP. We were in our late 80’s and on that occasion Hellmuth raised $755,000.
Since then, his fame has never left him. The WSOP has practically become his home, with spectacular performances that have made history. In 2007 came the Hall of Fame. There are now those who loved him more and more, and those who hated him for his character and the proverbial scenes at the tables.
Shows like “Poker After Dark” or “High Stakes Duel” have contributed to the fact that his big face became more and more known to the public. In the bookstore we found it with various efforts. The title from 2017 is always up to date POSITIVITY: You are always in the right place at the right time. Kind of a mantra that Phil keeps repeating on social media too.
Let’s get to the stats that are so dear to Hendon Mob. Hellmuth is fourth on the WSOP Money List. AND First ahead of Negreanu among those who finished in the top ten (with 76 useful deep runs) and also in terms of number of ITM (with 171 flags). What more do you want?
Hellmuth is currently ranked 14th on the American live money list and 21st on the all-time list. Travel around 30 million minus winnings, but it should be noted that his top-paying results were oddly enough two fourth places: Bottom of the podium at both the 2012 Big One for One Drop and the 2016 Super High Roller Bowl. And let’s not forget when he came to our area in Venice in 2013 for the WPT…
His 17 WSOP titles
But you say that he will remember everyone? Phil’s feeling for the bracelets in the series began with the Main in 1989, which is now 34 years ago. In 1993 came a fabulous thing tripletwhile we can talk about it in 2003 and 2012 shotguns. He had his longest fasting period between 2007 and 2012: five years is an eternity for Mr. Hellmuth. VGG to those who continue to make pages of history.
- 1989 – $10,000 NL Hold’em World Championship – $755,000
- 1992 – $5,000 Limit Hold’em – $168,000
- 1993 – $1,500 NL Hold’em – $161,400
- 1993 – $2,500 NL Hold’em – $173,000
- 1993 – $5,000 Limit Hold’em – $138,000
- 1997 – $3,000 PL Hold’em – $204,000
- 2001 – $2,000 NL Hold’em – $316,550
- 2003 – $2,500 Limit Hold’em – $171,400
- 2003 – $3,000 NL Hold’em – $410,860
- 2006 – $1,000 NL Hold’em with rebuys – $631,863
- 2007 – $1,500 NL Hold’em – $637,254
- 2012 – $2,500 Seven-Card Razz – $182,793
- 2012E – €10,450 NL Hold’em Main Event – €1,022,376
- 2015 – $10,000 Seven-Card Razz – $271,105
- 2018 – $5,000 NL Hold’em – $485,082
- 2021 – 1,500 NL 2-7 Lowball Draw – $84,851
- 2023 – $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty NL Hold’em – $803,818
