|
 Phil
Hellmuth, Doyle
Brunson Ranked Among
the WSOP Greats
Phil
Hellmuth could very
well get his 12th
bracelet at this
year's World Series
of Poker. In
the world of
professional poker,
there are few as
great as the brash
Hellmuth. He
is what Tiger Woods
is to golf.
In
fact, ESPN ranked
him number one on
their list.
Phil Hellmuth: As
painful as it may be
to admit, Hellmuth
is the greatest
player in the
history of the World
Series of Poker. He
has a record 11
bracelets, the first
of which he won in a
historic 1989 final
against Johnny Chan,
the last of which he
won a year ago. "My
family usually comes
first," Hellmuth
says, "But the WSOP
is when I get to
just focus on poker
100 percent." That
focus is what may
make him the single
most dangerous man
to have at your WSOP
table. That, or his
ability to make your
eardrums bleed on
command.
Hellmuth is the
spokesperson for
Gambling911.com
online poker room
sponsor,
UltimateBet.
Last
year you might
recall, Hellmuth
crashed his race car
into a cinder block
and nearly died just
prior to the World
Series of Poker.
Some claimed it was
all one giant
publicity stunt.
The
second best poker
player to immerse
himself into the
WSOP?
That
old fuddy duddy,
Doyle Brunson, who
is also well
represented on the
Gambling911.com
website via his
Doyles Room
Calling anyone else
the greatest ever to
play poker is an
insult because of
the way Doyle has
combined skill,
success and
longevity. He's the
owner of 10
bracelets, two of
which came in
back-to-back world
championships in
1976 and 1977.
Brunson's massive
jewelry collection
is made more
remarkable by the
fact that he's
traditionally spent
most of his WSOP
time playing cash
games, skipping the
series altogether
more than once in
the late '90s.
Though he's 75 years
old, he's still a
very serious threat
to win any
tournament he
enters.
ESPN.com neglected
to mention that only
5 people entered the
WSOP the years that
Doyle won.
Just
kidding!
Not
to be ignored, ESPN
did have Jenny Woo
poker friend, Johnny
Chan, tied with
Brunson.
If
nothing else, Johnny
Chan can claim
ownership of the
most amazing run in
WSOP history. He won
the event in 1987,
then did it again in
1988, then finished
second in 1989.
However, if that
were all he'd done
at the WSOP, he
wouldn't be on this
list. All told, Chan
owns 10 bracelets
and is still going
strong with five
bracelets this
decade.
-----
Ace
King,
Gambling911.com
Originally published
May 29, 2008 9:50 pm
EST |
