"I don’t really fear anybody [at the poker table]," Hellmuth says. "There are people who have been lucky against me. But eventually I know I’m going to nail those guys too, and maybe the final table at the World Series of Poker would be a good time to get them back."

That would not be surprising, for Hellmuth is tied for the most wins at the World Series of Poker in history. He has won nine times, and was the youngest ever player to win the main event, knocking out the legendary Johnny Chan in 1989.

So a high level of confidence is not surprising, but it does bring with it certain consequences. Hellmuth is well known in the poker world for the pouting and complaining he does after losing a big hand, always making the other person feel like they were lucky rather than good.

"I’m definitely a very big poker brat. That’s just a very good descriptive term for me," Hellmuth says. Still, watching himself on television when the brat half trumps the poker half can be embarrassing.

"Sometimes I’m embarrassed by my conduct. Sometimes I’m a little over the line. Sometimes I’m like, ‘Come on, Phil,’" he laughs. "‘You got to handle yourself better than this. You’re a nine-time world champion, one of the biggest media guys in poker right now. You should handle yourself with more decorum.’ I just hate losing!"

His huge reactions at the poker table and utter consternation when he loses a big hand to a player he deems inferior—in other words, anyone—have made him perhaps the biggest draw on televised poker. It is next to impossible to not feel strongly one way or the other with Hellmuth; viewers either love him or hate him. Furthering this polarizing effect is the color commentary of Norman Chad on ESPN’s World Series of Poker, who seems to be constantly criticizing Hellmuth.

When Chad’s name is brought up, Hellmuth laughs. "Does it seem like I slighted him some way in the past? Well that’s what I used to think, too…because he just comes after me. And some of what he says is fine. If he wants to nail me for whining too much at the table, that’s alright. If he wants to nail me for other charges that aren’t fair, then I have a problem with it. And he does take it over the edge."

Hellmuth enjoys the popularity that both he and poker are receiving now thanks to television contracts and the disseminating effects of the Internet. He credits ESPN’s coverage of the World Series, the Travel Channel’s coverage of the World Poker Tour, and the Internet with making poker "the hottest game in the world right now."

"It’s a great thing for poker," he says. "We may be heading down a path similar to the PGA Tour’s path. Maybe not a lot of people were involved in the golfing world in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. And all of a sudden it got hot and some of the champions of that era—you know, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s—became really big names, [like] Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer…"

Hellmuth has also had recent success as an author, as he is happy to point out. His first book, "Play Poker Like the Pros," recently hit 14th on the best sellers list of "How-To" books—although he is quick to add, "Unfortunately, they only publish the top five on the ‘How-To’ list." His new book, released in late October, is called "Bad Beats and Lucky Draws" and "is more about the poker tour" as opposed to strategy, like his first book was.

But any discussion with Hellmuth soon shifts back to actually playing poker. And even in response to a simple question of if he would rather go into a pot against a professional poker player or an amateur, he soon shifts to taking strategy and the proper way to play. "Well, when I don’t raise the pot for two rounds and then I come in raising with Ace-Jack, the pros know I have something. The dumb amateur might just think, ‘Ok, Phil’s making a steal. So what if he hasn’t played a hand for ten hands…My Ace-Ten’s good, or my King-Queen’s good.’ And they move all in! And now I’m stuck playing a hand that’s a little weaker than I wanted to play, if I play it…And all of a sudden, I play a big pot where I’m two and a half to one favorite, or four and a half to one favorite, but I don’t want to play a big pot when I’m two and a half to one favorite or four and a half to one favorite, or even money."

Follow all that? That is the sort of mental process that goes on inside a world champion poker player’s mind when playing a poker tournament. And for this Midwesterner who started playing poker at the age of 19 at the University of Wisconsin, he thinks—no, he knows—that he can outplay any other poker player in the world. The evidence seems to be on his side.

Photo courtesy of of PokerRoyalty.com

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