One of the top professionals in the world of poker is Phil Hellmuth (just ask him if you don’t believe it). Hellmuth, the 13-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and 1989 World Champion, looks to be preparing for the upcoming World Poker Tour stop at the Bellagio in Las Vegas by making the rounds of the clubs in Sin City and indulging in one of his favorite activities, name-dropping.
Last weekend Phil came to the oasis in the desert and immediately headed out to the Las Vegas Strip. With both the National Finals Rodeo and the NASCAR Awards Banquet going on, Hellmuth headed out to Hakkasan Las Vegas on the grounds of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. If you thought that ‘The Poker Brat’ was alone, you would be mistaken.
“Just arrived at Hakkasan with NASCAR legends David B. Smith, Denny Hamlin, Jason White and Jeff Gordon,” Hellmuth Tweeted early on the morning of December 6. Downing “Grey Goose and Red Bull (according to Hellmuth),” the party was soon joined by two of Gordon’s teammates with Rick Hendrick Racing, six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and twelve-time fan-voted Most Popular Driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. From the appearance of Hellmuth’s Twitter feed, the revelry lasted until nearly dawn at the fashionable club.
After relaxing through the day on Saturday, Hellmuth fired up the party wagon again in attending the after-party for Ultimate Fighting Championship’s reigning lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Following Pettis’ 2nd round submission of Gilbert Melendez on Saturday evening, Hellmuth was a guest at Pettis’ shindig at Light in Mandalay Bay. Hellmuth was able to join the UFC fighter, Tweeting out pictures with the champion as well as Pettis’ UFC championship belt.
For those of you who think that Hellmuth was doing nothing but partying, he also got some time in on the felt. Over the span of three sessions, Hellmuth came out the winner in two of them and walked off with over $10,000. “Crazy Vegas weekend,” commented Hellmuth over Twitter as the sun rose on Monday morning.
If that wasn’t enough for Hellmuth, last night he found himself courtside for the NBA tussle between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. Sitting beside Warriors owner Joe Lacob, Hellmuth Tweeted a photo of the Warriors Dance Team and said, “Girls dressed in the cheerleader outfits I helped pick out (for real!)!” Although Hellmuth stopped short of dressing out and taking the floor for the Warriors, they were able to defeat the Rockets for their 14th consecutive victory this season.
Hellmuth has long been known to use his Twitter feed to offer insights into his lifestyle. CEOs, members of the Warriors, Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West, writer Amy Tan and even former President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice all have made appearances on his Twitter timeline. In between the photo ops, Hellmuth also finds some time to talk about poker, including his win at the Pittsburgh Open Main Event last month.
While it seems that his party schedule has calmed down, Hellmuth actually has some serious business ahead of him next week. Hellmuth will probably be taking part in the WPT’s Five Diamond World Poker Classic, the $10,000 buy-in tournament that begins on Monday and will cap the 2014 schedule for the WPT. If Hellmuth doesn’t run deep in that tournament, then he may stick around for the next WPT Alpha8 battle. The WPT Alpha8 Las Vegas will kick off on December 18 and the $100,000 buy-in tournament would probably be something that Hellmuth can’t pass up even as the Christmas holiday approaches.
