iv had a few searches online but cant seem to find much detail on phil before he actually won his first world series . i would really like to know more about what games and what stakes he played before that first win . obviously there was no internet poker back then so how did he get that very first 1OK together to enter into the main event . did he grind up through the cash game ranks , did he win a satt , i would really like to know more about his rise to poker stardom ?

He was a pioneer of facial mole porn.

He cashed in the 1988 ME, so he didn't won his first world series.

What I've heard is that he played the home games at his university campus. Eventually he'd drop out and play poker full time. The first he played at the WSOP was 1988 and the rest is history.

He didn't. He was eliminated by Johnny Chan just outside the money.

Yeah you can find out a lot of his pre wsop history in his infamous Play Poker Like The Pros ).

Here is what's recorded:

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=117

So Phil has an active tournament career since 1987. He did made ITM in the ME in 1988 and actually won 125k in another tournament that same year.

I heard he was a hot dog vendor before his pokercareer.

He won $300 in what he describes as a $5 poker game.
Tried to go pro with that money, but went broke and had to work.
Found a juicy doctors game which led to first 4 figure score and eventually a 20k roll.
Lost it in Vegas. Kept working on it and eventually became profitable.
Binked 2 Bicycle casino tourneys for around 200k in 88

source: deal me in

Ivey chapter is worth the cost of the book

I moved to Las Vegas in 1987 and began to play poker at the Las Vegas Hilton which had a legitimate poker room at that time. Shortly after I showed up, Hellmuth showed up to play and he never won in the $10-$20 hold 'em game they use to have. Then a few months later they had a fairly large tournament and I remember walking into the tournament room at the end of one of the events. To my amazement it was down to three people one of which was Hellmuth.

I can't remember if he won that particular tournament but he did win several of the tournaments (at the Hilton and other places) during this time, but continued to always lose in the cash games (as far as I could tell), and of course he was now playing much larger than $10-$20. (I also remember watching him play in a large cash game at Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker which was held at Caesar's Palace where he was a big loser [during the time I watched].)

As for his WSOP win in 1989, my understanding, and this is partly from direct conversation with Hellmuth where he told me that he had "lost control," is that even though he had by that time accumulated a significant amount of money through tournament wins, all the money was gone except for his last $10,000 which he used to buy into the 1989 WSOP.

And you know the rest.

Best wishes,
Mason

This is so much different than what is described in the book I mentioned in the previous post. I guess he knew his family would be reading it. All he talks about is loving the fact that his dad was there for it and had finally turned the corner and was supporting him.

Oh my bad, sorry. Had something messed up I guess.

Very interesting, thanks.

hmm he finished 5th in the $ 1,000 No Limit Hold'em (1987) for stunning $1,980...that must had been a very small field.

edit: hehe just realized that you can get those details by clicking on the event, doh....33 entries...

I heard Johnny Chan flopped the nut straight, and had the patience to wait him out.

...starting a longstanding tradition amongst aspiring poker pros called "Hellmuthing" that continues to this day.

Why do I seem to remember somthing about him picking up rocks in a field as a job?

great story ty for sharing

widespread Interweb before 1988??? not very likely.

Hahahahaha

so PH was always a cash game fish and a tourney shark.

It's crazy how thin the line is between success and failure.

It's like that in pretty much everything in life many people just don't realize it.

hellmuth is a ****in boss