Phil Hellmuth has been in the news recently because of his split with UB; however, before that happened he used his celebrity for a great cause in a charity event called Phil Hellmuth’s Hold’em with HospiceCare. On Saturday December 18, 2010, I had the opportunity to attend the event, which happened to be just down the road in Madison, Wisconsin, Hellmuth’s hometown. The poker event, which was sponsored by UB.net and Baker Tilly, was designed to raise money for a great charity in HospiceCare.

As the flyer states: “Since 1978, HospiceCare Inc. has worked to bring exceptional end-of-life care to patients and their families. We serve more than 650 patients each day throughout south central Wisconsin. HospiceCare’s goals, such as enhancing the quality of our services and expanding our reach to all those who need us, are supported by Phil Hellmuth’s Hold’em with HospiceCare.”

Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. Was born July 16th, 1964 in Madison, Wisconsin. He was the first of five children born to his father, Phil Hellmuth Sr., the dean of the University of Wisconsin and his mother, Lynn Hellmuth, a famous sculptor. In an interview with AskMen.com, Hellmuth said this in regards to his childhood, “If you look back at my. Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. Was born in Madison, Wisconsin on July 16, 1964, as the first and oldest child with four younger siblings: Ann, David, Kerry, and Molly Hellmuth. His father Phil Hellmuth Sr. Was a dean at the University of Wisconsin, while his mother, Lynn Hellmuth, was a sculptor.

When I arrived, I picked up my media pass and made my way up to the tournament area in the penthouse. I was immediately taken aback at the setup. Simply put, it was amazing and much more professional than I expected. There were decent poker tables, a silent auction, a VIP area, two bars, a buffet, and much more. As I made the rounds, I began taking note on the various poker players in attendance. Aside from Hellmuth, I spotted 2009 Player of the Year Eric Baldwin (who also hails from Wisconsin), UB pros Mark “P0ker H0' Kroon and Gary “Debo34” Bebanardi, Shawn Rice, David Plastik, Dixon Ruecker, Jon Green, Morgan Machina, and 1998 WSOP Main Event fourth-place finisher Dewey Weum.

In addition to professional poker players, the charity event also drew a slew of national and local celebrities including Olympic gold medalist speed skater Casey Fitzrandolph, PGA professional Jerry Kelly, NASCAR professional Matt Kenseth, Radio personalities Johnny Danger & Van Edwards, NBC-15 News Anchors Leigh Mills & Charlie Shortino, former UW Badgers football head coach Barry Alvarez, and former Madison mayor Paul Soglin.

I actually had the opportunity to play in the tournament and had a lot of fun. I thought it ironic that on the very first hand I looked down at , the same hand Hellmuth had when he won the 1989 World Series of Poker! Unfortunately I wasn’t so lucky and lost that hand to , dropping me into an early hole; in fact, after just three hands I was down to 6,550 from the original 10,000 starting stack.

I managed to grind back to even when Jon Green was moved to my table. In one hand, he limped under the gun and action folded around to me in the small blind. I limped with and the big blind checked his option. The flop gave me top pair but I opted to check, as did the big blind, and Green bet 500. I made the call, the big blind folded, and I checked in the dark. Surprisingly, Green bet 3,000 in the dark. The dealer then burned and turned a ! I had hit two pair and moved all-in. Green, who only had 2,000 behind, called with his and was left to rebuy when a hit the river. ($200 rebuys for the first six levels was offered in an attempt to help raise money for HospiceCare - and there were a lot of rebuys)

I ended up playing for a couple more hours, with Phil Hellmuth Sr. to my immediate right, but was eliminated after the blinds ate away my stack. I later heard that Hellmuth Sr. managed to make it all the way to the final table. Not too shabby considering there must have been around 240 players in the tournament. Even more impressive was that Mark “P0ker H0' Kroon went on to win, quite the amazing feat for a pro to emerge victorious in a charity event full off amateurs.

In addition to the tournament, there was a raffle held for some great prizes. Some of the prizes included heads-up matches against Hellmuth and a custom-made autographed poker table, but the two big prizes, a two-year lease on a Zimbrick Honda Accord LX and a seat to the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, were won by Art Luetke and Joe Anderson respectively.

All told Phil Hellmuth’s Hold’em with HospiceCare raised nearly $140,000 for patients and families of South-Central Wisconsin. It was a great event that had the energized the Wisconsin poker scene. Hopefully it’ll become an annual event because anytime poker can be used to raise money for a good cause, everyone wins.

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  Celebrity PokerCharity PokerPhil HellmuthEric 'basebaldy' Baldwin

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  Phil Hellmuth

Phil Hellmuth Sr

Nicknamed as “Poker Brat” for his temperamental personality, Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. is one of the top poker players in the US. He has won fourteen World Series of Poker bracelets and has reached over 50 final tables at the WSOP. He is best known for being the victor of the Main Event at the 1989 World Series of Poker as well as the Main Event at the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe. Phillip Hellmuth, or most commonly referred to as Phil, is an inductee of the WSOP’s Poker Hall of Fame.

Phil Hellmuth Net Worth

According to the latest figures from The Hendon Mob Poker Database, Hellmuth has earned a total of $20,977,294 in live earnings. He placed seventh on the All Time Money List, joining the ranks of poker royalties Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Colman, Phil Ivey, and Scott Seiver.

In the Americas, his winnings amounted to a whopping $18,935,090. In his tournaments in Europe, Hellmuth has won a total of $1,867,315. And in Oceania, he has won $43,663. He has not reported retiring anytime soon. Needless to say, we can expect to see the Phil Hellmuth net worth increasing more in the following years.

Phil Hellmuth Early Years

Phil is the oldest among Phil Hellmuth Sr. and Lynn Hellmuth’s five children. He grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and even became classmates and best friends with the late comedian Chris Farley. Phil learned playing cards through his family. He would always mention that his most enjoying games in the family were played against his grandmother, Agnes Slattery. He dedicated his Harper Collins book Play Poker Like the Pro’s to her. When he was attending the University of Wisconsin, he learned how to play Texas Hold’Em poker at the student union.

After building his poker bankroll through local poker games, Phil decided to drop out of college. During this time, Phil would travel to Las Vegas. He probably wasn’t dealt with the best poker hands because it was only after the tenth time that he went to Las Vegas that he started winning at the tables. He would often come back to Madison to rebuild his bankroll. He would do so by detasseling corn and tilling soil for Blaine Farms.

Phil Hellmuth in the World Series of Poker Tournaments

In 1989, when he was only 24 years old, Phil won the Main Event at the World Series of Poker. By defeating the two-time defending champion Johnny Chan in heads up play, Phil became the youngest to win the said event. However, in 2008, his record was broken by Peter Eastgate. As of this writing, Phil holds the record for the player who has the most WSOP cashes (108) and the player who has the most number of final tables (52).

Phil Hellmuth Razz

Phil is strongest at playing Texas Hold'em with twelve out of is fourteen bracelets won in that format. However, he still found some success in playing non-hold'em events. It is worth noting that 22 of his 52 final tables were for different formats of the game, including Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, 2-7 Lowball, Omaha hold'em (Pot Limit, Limit, and Hi-Lo), and Seven Card Razz, as well as mixed games like H.O.R.S.E and the Poker Player's Championship. In 1988, he reached his first-ever WSOP final table and his third WSOP cash-in in the Pot Limit Omaha Hold'em with Rebuys event.

When Hellmuth joined the 1993 World Series of Poker, he became the second player in the tournament’s history to win three bracelets within one WSOP. Another notable fact about that feat was that Hellmuth won his three victories in three consecutive days. In total, the “Poker Brat” won 14 World Series of Poker bracelets. He won his 12th on June 11, 2012 when he defeated Don Zewin in the $2,500 Seven-Card Razz event. He earned $182,793 in the said event. This was also the first non-hold'em bracelet that Hellmuth won. To date, his largest cash in a single event was when he finished fourth in the $1,000,000 buy-in 'Big One for One Drop' tournament. He collected $2,645,333 from that event. The most recent World Series of Poker bracelet that Hellmuth won was from the 10,000 Seven-Card Razz event on June 8, 2015. He earned $271,105 from the said event.

Phil Hellmuth in the World Poker Tour

As of this writing, Phil Hellmuth has reached four final tables and has cashed 13 times in separate World Poker Tour events. At the 3rd Annual 49'er Gold Rush Bonanza in 2002, Hellmuth joined the $3,000 No Limit Hold'em WPT Event and finished fourth. In 2003, he finished third at the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods under the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em WPT Event. In 2008, he joined the WPT L.A. Poker Classic and finished sixth in a final table where Phil Ivey and Nam Le also competed. He earned $229,480 in that event. He also competed in two WPT Invitational Events – the World Poker Tour by The Book in 2004 and the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II in 2006. Hellmuth finished third in both events. As of May 2010, Hellmuth has been the 122nd player to earn over a million dollars from World Poker Tour events.

Phil Hellmuth’s Other Tournament Involvements

Hellmuth is also known to regularly appear on Poker After Dark, both as a commentator and a player. On his first tournament in the show, he won a net of $100,000. After two weeks, he joined another Poker After Dark tournament and won another $100,000. Hellmuth is also the champion of the third season of Late Night Poker.

In 2000, Hellmuth defeated 437 other poker players in the Poker EM 7-Card Stud Main Event in Austria, winning $106,250. He also made a mark in history when he won the first ever National Heads-Up Poker Championship, defeating big names like Antonio Esfandiari, Huck Seed, Paul Phillips, Men Nguyen, Lyle Berman, and Chris Ferguson. In 2007, he wasn’t able to join the National Heads-Up Poker Championship because he opted to compete in PartyPoker.com’s Premier League Poker. Out of the six group matches, he won four and eventually finished third in the finals. The following year, he joined the National Heads-Up Poker Championship but lost against Tom Dwan in the first round. He competed in the same tournament once more in 2013 where he finished second after Mike Matusow. He earned $300,000 in that competition.

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