Needless to say, it’s been a busy week for online poker room Ultimate Bet. On Tuesday, its player base was combined with that of Absolute Poker to form the CEREUS network. On the same day, it was announced that a story by CBS News program “60 Minutes” would feature the scandals that rocked UB as well as AP. Also this week, it was revealed that one of the site’s main spokesmen, 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, would debut his very own clothing line.
The business that manufactures the outerwear is called Poker Brat Clothing Company. In a press release distributed earlier this week, Hellmuth commented, “I love the people who designed these shirts. We’ve worked with artists in Las Vegas, Missouri, and West Hollywood, and I told them to create whatever their hearts desired and, man, did they create some great poker designs!” Hats, shirts, and other poker-related paraphernalia are being designed and marketed by Hellmuth’s firm.
The “Poker Tree” style is one of the featured shirts available, which shows a black tree on a white background with the four different card suits serving as leaves. It retails for $34.95 and comes in Medium, Large, XL, and XXL sizes. A black shirt with a white design features the following description from the Poker Brat Clothing Company’s website: “Pre-flop strategy, post-flop betting, hard-core statistics, suited connectors, and stone cold bluffs: this is your mind… on poker.” It’s offered in a traditional cut as well as a baby cut and retails for $29.95.
Shirts featuring the Poker Brat logo are also available and colors include black, white, and orange. Shirts featuring artistic poker faces, the well-recognized “PH” logo, and a shirt that displays Hellmuth’s infamous quote “If it weren’t for luck, I’d win every hand” can also be found in the shop. The latter retails for $19.95 and comes in a light blue color. A “PH” logo hat retails for $29.99 and comes in white lettering on a black hat, gold lettering on a black hat, as well as white lettering on a pink cap.
In addition to poker gear, four of Hellmuth’s books can also be purchased on the website PokerBrat.com, which opened just in time for the “Black Friday” holiday shopping rush in the United States. The books that are available include “Play Poker Like the Pros,” “Phil Hellmuth’s Texas Hold’em,” “Bad Beats and Lucky Draws,” and “Read ‘Em and Reap.” Prices for these periodicals range between $9.95 and $19.95.
Instructional videos featuring Hellmuth are available via a link to an affiliate site. Also up for grabs are the soundtrack from the poker musical “All In” and a link to buy tickets to “The Real Deal” poker stage show, which takes place at The Venetian.
Hellmuth holds the record for the number of World Series of Poker bracelets won with 11. His most recent came by virtue of taking down a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event in 2007, outlasting a field of 2,628 players. In that tournament, Hellmuth defeated Andy Philachack heads-up. Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, who is the proud owner of a pair of Omaha bracelets, also made the final table. Hellmuth won the 1989 WSOP Main Event and was the youngest winner of poker’s most prestigious tournament at the time at age 24. His record was shattered just a few weeks ago by 22 year-old Peter Eastgate.
Hellmuth has 69 in the money finishes in WSOP play for a grand total of over $6 million. Along with poker pro Annie Duke, he serves as the main face behind Ultimate Bet, which is owned by Tokwiro Enterprises. Tokwiro also owns Absolute Poker.
