Phil Hellmuth - Poker Brat: Phil Hellmuth’s Autobiography

First published in 2017 by D&B Publishing
Copyright 2017 Phil Hellmuth

The right of Phil Hellmuth to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978 1 909457 74 4

WSOP Entrance photography by Eric Harkins & Rob Gracie/pokerphotoarchive.com

Jay Z and Phil Hellmuth photo courtesy of Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Cover and book design by Horacio Monteverde.

Printed and bound by Versa Press in the US.

All sales enquiries should be directed to D&B Publishing:

To my oldest son Phillip III, you have strength and integrity, and Im proud of you. To my parents Lynn and Phil, thanks for teaching me honor and ethics and to believe I can do it

For years Phil Hellmuth has been the most polarizing figure in all of poker. Knowing the man, I also think he might be the most misunderstood. Love him or hate him, there is no denying the fact that when Phil is playing on television, people watch. He wears the passion that he plays with on his sleeve for all the world to see. You get to endure every bad beat and tongue lashing his opponents may receive, as well as the child-like joy he emanates when he is victorious.

Phil cares so deeply about the game of poker that when you see him on a tirade after a bad beat, you are seeing his genuine feelings in that moment. These are feelings that I am sure we can all relate to when the river card dashes our hopes. Phil doesnt hold back and watching him play is reality TV at its best.

I say that Phil might be the most misunderstood figure in poker because the haters, who dont know the man behind the brat-like tirades, dont get to see the kind, honest, joyous, family man that he is away from the table. Ill be the first to say that I think sometimes he crosses the line with his behavior at the table, but I also know his intentions arent malicious. Nobody wants to win more than Phil. He puts his heart out there in every tournament and fights for every chip.

He is an asset to the poker community and, by reading this book, you will learn more about Mr. Hellmuth than the title Poker Brat suggests. What has made him successful all these years? What drives him? How is he able to stay positive and confident in such a profession that is so often stressful? This is a fascinating look into the mind of one of pokers biggest stars.

In April 1987, as I wandered aimlessly between the slot machines and the craps tables at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, the gravity of my predicament began to sink in. The poker had gone badly for me in Las Vegas. I had no money on my person I had $800 left to my name hidden in my parents house in Madison, Wisconsin no credit cards, no friends in town to borrow money from, no way home, no way to pay my overdue hotel bill and, worst of all, I was hungry. After wandering around for an hour examining my limited options (I even searched the Riviera Casino floor for chips!), I came to see that the only way out was to call my parents and beg them to buy a plane ticket home for me. I knew that my father would tell me, Good luck hitchhiking home. But perhaps my mom (I pray that shes home!) could be persuaded to help me out. After all, I did have the money to pay her back the moment I reached home.

Only five months before I found myself in this sorry state of affairs, I had called my parents and said, Im dropping out of college [at the University of Wisconsin] to play poker professionally. Can you imagine my fathers response? This is a man who has more degrees than seems possible: a JD (law degree), a PhD, and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) for good measure! Add to that the fact that Im the oldest of five, the oldest son. Can you imagine how he reacted to my dropping out of university to play poker professionally? I was the son who had to go to college, who had to get good grades. I was the son he had tried desperately to mold and shape, so that I would set a good example for my younger brother and my three younger sisters. My dad is so deeply into education that he spent his whole working life working at the University of Wisconsin (UW).

So I made my way back to my hotel room, dreading the phone call that I needed to make, while trying to think of another way out. There wasnt one. Finally, I picked up the phone. After my first attempt to call failed, I realized that I would have to call collect, because my cash only outside phone line had been cut off by the hotel.

Operator: Sir, will you accept the charges and take a collect call from P.J.?

After a brief hesitation, my father said, Yes (oh great, Dad answered the phone!), I accept the charges.

Hi, Dad, things arent going so well here in Las Vegas.

Has it ever gone well for you there, even one time?

Trying not to let my voice crack, I said, Dad, I need your help. Im stuck here in Las Vegas with no money and no way to get home, and Im hungry. I cant believe I did this to myself, but I lost all my money.

You might want to talk to your mother, bye

Mom, Hi, P.J., whats going on?

Mom, I lost all my money, Im hungry, and I need you to call the airlines and buy a plane ticket home for me on your credit card for $180. I have $800 at home and Ill pay you back as soon as I get home.

A long pause

OK, P.J., listen carefully, Im going to help you out this one time. But I will never ever help you out again. I love you, but we have four other younger children, and we need to save our money for them. Do you understand?

Yes, Mom, thank you.

As I slunk out of the Riviera hotel, unable to pay my bill and ferociously hungry, I felt awful. As I arrived at the airport I realized that I couldnt even pay the cab driver full fare! The cab driver smiled at me out of pity, and told me to keep my last 47 cents.

So how was this professional poker thing working out? I was at war with my father over my new choice of career, I had just used the only get out of jail free card that my mom would ever give me, I had carelessly lost all the money on my person, and I had left myself stranded in Las Vegas with no way home. Heres how it was working out: I ate so many peanuts on the flight home that I hated peanuts for the next ten years!

How have a managed to become the poker brat? Why do I throw tantrums when I lose? Worse, why do I berate other players when they beat me in big pots? Its about battling a lifetime of self-esteem issues!

But how is it possible that I would suffer from low self-esteem? I have never cheated on my wife in 25 years of marriage, I have been a father; I have perfect health, I dont do drugs (not even aspirin!), and I dont drink heavily; I am honorable and honest to the nth degree, and I havent been broke since 1987; and I have earned a good measure of fortune and fame, I own every important record at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), and these days I have become a global poker icon. In a nutshell, I have solid reasons for feeling comfortable about myself, but Ive suffered from low self-esteem because of how things went during my first 21 years on the planet.