phil hellmuth

Things Are Getting Personal for Phil Hellmuth

Inside the Poker Circles / / By

Images courtesy of World Poker Tour

In the world of poker, new names come and go at the felt. With a new televised cash game, the ‘Big Dog’ at the table is still the 17-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.

Ahead of his latest Hellmuth’s Home Game show, we spoke to the man hoping to grow his legacy even more with the involvement of his eldest son, Philip Hellmuth III, and how he wants to help one poker minority become a force in the game.

A Family Affair

Phil Hellmuth is showing no signs of slowing down as he prepares for one of the busiest ends to a year since he turned 24 and won the 1989 World Championship. Back then, his opponent was the two-time WSOP Main Event winner Johnny Chan. More recently, Phil’s biggest challenge has been bringing those closest to him into the game, including his son Phillip.

Overall, having Phillip vigorously pursue the path of becoming a professional poker player has been great for our relationship. He plays tons of hours! The effort is there, and we get a ton more time together, especially when I’m on the road.

While both father and son have the strongest of bonds with each other, Phil admits that at times, there have been obstacles on their journey.

Part and parcel with mastering a relationship with an adult son comes a lot of pain points. That shared pain between us then slowly clears a road filled with past issues – baggage. When Phillip didn’t play professionally, then I could dedicate my time with him towards giving him pure love and pure support. Now, I have to tell him what he is doing wrong.

Phil said that while he started Phillip on other training methods to minimize confrontations between the two generations of Hellmuth men, what Phillip learned wasn’t up to The Poker Brat’s standard.

Thus, ‘Coaching Dad’ steps in, and he’s too intense, not patient enough, and too demanding, admits Phil. I think Phillip sees that this is a huge blessing for him; he gets to confront me about all of his past issues with me.

Inevitably, we go to our parents and confront them about many things – the way we were raised, and did they give us enough attention. I’ve been able to help him find closure. It’s been painful but rewarding for both of us in the end.

The Home Game Vibe

Phil and Phillip Hellmuth have been at the felt in recent months as part of Hellmuth’s Home Game, the cash game action that has taken the poker-watching public by storm. With a fun mix of legends like Jungleman, friends and family, and rivals the Poker Brat has hand-picked, it feels like an old school show where the stacks of cash are catching fire with each bigger and better hand. I asked Phil how the idea came about.

Todd Anderson started two successful brands, Poker Night in America and the Heartland Poker Tour. Together, Todd and I came up with the idea for Hellmuth’s Home Game. We’d been talking about it for years. I pushed my idea of no commentators because I felt like some commentators either talk over the best conversations or give bad analysis on the hands.

The feel of the show has caught the public’s attention, with fans saying they feel like they’re in the room and at the table with Hellmuth and friends.

There are no interruptions from secondary sources, just us at the table. Todd and I wanted a show that had great conversations with dynamic personalities, and we felt like the size of the action was less important.

I have always told producers that the size of the game was not as important as the people and conversations. They all disagreed with me. Not anymore!

The success of the show has proven Phil’s point. He tells me that he wanted ‘a show like Poker After Dark rather than a simple show packed with poker hands highlights.

We wanted a show where folks can listen to interesting and smart people have great conversations. Todd and I wanted 80% of the footage to be used. Some shows use 15% – just the highlight hands. With one million minutes watched per day on YouTube alone, Hellmuth’s Home Game is the hottest poker show in the world!

From Tournament Titan to King of Cash?

phil hellmuth interview

Phil is known as the king of poker tournaments. He’s a big draw around the world for his record of winning ranking titles, but many forget just how big a cash game player he was back in the day on shows such as the aforementioned Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, and many others.

Where Phil often feels happiest, however, is in his home game with friends, where even the cameras don’t get to witness the action.

I love my regular home game! he laughs. Hosted by my best friend Chamath, we have the most interesting people in the world playing in it. Some of the most successful people on the planet play with us. We laugh all night long!

The intention of Hellmuth’s Home Game is to have a similar vibe, and it works. That sense of camaraderie and joie de vivre translates from the home game to the television screen.

With Jungleman, Jennifer Tilly, 3-Coin, Kelly Lucas, Xuan Liu, Mike the Mouth, DJ Washburn, Texas Mike, Pink, and both of my sons, Phillip and Nick, I have a blast filming it! Great people, tons of laughter.

Promoting Women in Poker

Hellmuth’s Home Game sees Phil take on many top female players like Jennifer Tilly, Kelly Lucas, Xuan Liu, and many others. In Phil’s opinion, the female player market is still the great untapped well of the poker industry – so how can we unlock that potential market?

In 2023, I decided that I would promote women in poker to the maximum of my abilities, says Phil. It’s the most untapped market for poker! I hate this pattern; a woman decides to play poker and attends their local casino, only to be run off by a man – a drunk man is how I envision it – who then crosses the line with flirting and weird comments. So many women never get started in our beautiful game!

Out of the seven players who took on Phil in the latest episode of Hellmuth’s Home Game, three of them were the women we just mentioned. As the 17-time WSOP bracelet winner sees it, there should be many more women playing the game.

I look forward to the day when we can have 50% women in tourneys. Right now, it is 5%!

Friends, Investors, Countrymen

Phil recently commented on the GGMillion$ finale with his friend and poker industry colleague Jeff Gross. Having spent a lifetime searching for truth in No Limit Hold’em, Phil was happy to provide a ‘unique perspective’ on the final table. He and Jeff share a piece of over 20 companies together and recently celebrated another deal crossing the line.

Jeff will become a billionaire in the next twenty years! says Phil. We are celebrating the sale of PrizePicks for $3 billion to a max of $5Bn if everything goes perfectly. Financially, I just ‘won’ three WSOP Main Events and brought my friend along for them to make well over $130m.

Another famous poker friend of Phil’s, Mike Matusow, is well ahead of him in terms of NFL picks, something that Phil loves doing every week on their FadeUs Sports Podcast.

Mikey is 11-1, and I am 3-9, ouch! Our podcast is starting to take off. It is a passion project for me. I came up with the name in 2018, I procured the line-up, and I pressed forward to make it happen in 2024.

It started as a note in my iPhone, and now we are on the VSIN Network. People watch us because we are old friends who make fun of each other with great knowledge of the NFL. We have interesting takes and comments, and call out the stupid strategy mistakes coaches make.

Over the course of the season, Phil is still confident in his sports betting picks. He bets big compared to the man in the street, with an average bet on an NFL Game against the spread of $1,200.

I cannot beat NFL week-to-week against the spread – I paid my bookie twice already this year! says Phil. But, for the past eleven years, I have always won my NFL Totals bets. I bet $25,000 on Detroit Lions to win over 10 games – 10 is a push – and $15,000 on the Pittsburgh Steelers to win over 8.5 games.”

The future of poker, business, and sports betting looks to have The Poker Brat at its very heart. Phil Hellmuth wouldn’t have it any other way.

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