Phil Hellmuth has done it again.
In one of the top moments of the 2023 World Series of Poker, the 1989 World Champion once again etched his name into the record books, winning his seventeenth WSOP bracelet in Event #72, the $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold’em tournament. At a table that included another legend of the game, Phil Ivey, and tough pros Brandon Steven, Chris Savage, and eventual runner-up Justin Zaki, Hellmuth fought from the middle of the final table pack to be the last man standing in the tournament. All of this has led to the inevitable question – is Phil Hellmuth the “greatest of all time” in the world of poker? Or is Phil Hellmuth simply the GOAT of the WSOP?
The Case for Phil Hellmuth’s GOAT-Worthiness
In winning his seventeenth bracelet, Hellmuth extended his record and has now won a WSOP bracelet in five different decades. The closest competitors aren’t even in the same hemisphere as Hellmuth – it’s a three-way tie between Ivey, Johnny Chan, and the late Doyle Brunson with ten. Looking a little further back than that (if you don’t consider Ivey or Chan having a chance to catch Hellmuth), you have Erik Seidel (older than Hellmuth), Billy Baxter, and Men Nguyen (both older). You don’t reach a “younger” player until you come to Jeremy Ausmus and Shaun Deeb, who both need a telescope to see Hellmuth with their six bracelets each.
The longtime contention against Hellmuth was that he had won all his bracelets in Texas Hold’em events, but that has changed over the course of his career. Stung by that criticism, Hellmuth dedicated himself to learning better skills in the non-Hold’em disciplines. Thus, three of his bracelet victories have come outside the Texas Hold’em realm, two in razz and one in No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball Draw. While nobody is going to call him a mixed game maven, Hellmuth has shown he can play poker (and besides…his first WSOP cash was in Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo in 1988).
Hellmuth has also been one of the great ambassadors for the game – I’ll give you a moment to pick yourselves up off the floor from laughing. Although he can sometimes be mind-numbingly ignorant in his actions on the table (more on this in a minute), Hellmuth has a healthy respect for the history of the game and does have the respect of his peers. If there is a philanthropic cause that needs promotion, Hellmuth has demonstrated time and time again that he will be there and add his assistance.
With his win on Sunday morning, Hellmuth also goes into the Top Twenty all-time with his $29,775,684 in earnings. He doesn’t have more because he doesn’t pursue the “High Roller” circuit – he would probably excel in that if he did. He sits behind only Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu in all-time WSOP earnings. All of this reads that Hellmuth should be considered the Greatest of All Time, regardless of era.
The Case Against Phil Hellmuth’s GOAT-Worthiness
We’re going to repeat the criticism that has already been enunciated above. Although Hellmuth has captured the top prize at the WSOP an astounding seventeen times, only three of those have been in something other than Texas Hold’em. This might make him seem to be a “one trick pony” that can only excel at one particular style of poker.
Moving on from the WSOP, you would have to look at Hellmuth’s record elsewhere. Outside of the WSOP, Hellmuth has not captured the top prize on any major tournament circuit. He has never won on the World Poker Tour stage – in fact, he’s only made five final tables in the twenty-plus years of the WPT. Hellmuth has never been one to travel overseas to take on the best that Europe has to offer (maybe this is the reason?), but that also means that he’s never won on the European Poker Tour. Additionally, there are those that call his cash game abilities into question – it’s an arena that he has never performed well in.
Finally, just about the time that people decide that the “Poker Brat” persona is just that, Hellmuth does something just so ashamedly awful that he gets called on the carpet. In 2021, Hellmuth went on an F-bomb rant and threatened to “burn down” the Rio, comments that would have gotten any other player expelled from the WSOP – the WSOP didn’t even breathe hard. And that is just one of his many outlandish acts on the poker tables – his continued childish, boorish, and reprehensible behavior sodden every good accolade that he might earn.
The Verdict?
Everyone has standards they set for “greatness” in any endeavor. For some, behavior can be overlooked, or even criminal activity, because the achievements of that individual came on the field of play, and outside actions shouldn’t be taken into consideration. But one of the criteria for “greatness” in many arenas is the entirety of your person – as the legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice once said, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you played the game.” Thus, the question of Phill Hellmuth’s “GOAT-worthiness” may be a question that is never answered.
