Phil "Poker Brat" Hellmuth Jr. is drowning his poker sorrows in alcohol.

The 45-year-old poker superstar, who owns a record 11 World Series of Poker (WSOP) championship gold bracelets, didn't win any gold at the most recent WSOP.

That has him so upset, he says, that he has begun drinking more heavily.

In a blog post at his website, www.philhellmuth.com, the "Poker Brat" wrote: "Since the WSOP ended I have been drinking more than usual.

"Now, do not get the wrong impression. Twice I had six drinks in one night and that is the most, but generally I have two to three drinks a night.

"So I haven't been abusing alcohol. I haven't even had a hangover, but still the trend to want to drink most nights is disturbing to me.

"The cause of this drinking trend is the fact that I had a sub-par WSOP.

"For 10 straight years, at least, I made a final table at the WSOP, most years making two of them, but this year I didn't make one.

"I had the record of most years in a row at a final table and I lost that record this year. On the plus side, I did have a 14th-place finish, a 17th, a 25th and a 30th, and six cashes in total, including one in the Main Event.

"Meanwhile, I watched Ivey win two bracelets and make the November Nine. I watched Jeff Lisandro win three bracelets and a few other guys win two bracelets and then there were a few guys that had both a first and a second.

"So that makes me feel like a failure. I know that I own all of the big records at the WSOP: 11 bracelets, 41 final tables and 75 cashes, but that was then and this is now."

Holy cow!

What is Phil thinking?

He is the most successful poker player in the world--no one else has won11 WSOP bracelets.

He's earned millions of dollars playing poker and millions more endorsing everything from energy drinks to baseball caps, and even once claimed he could make a billion dollars if he accepted every endorsement offer thrown his way.

All of a sudden he's a failure?

Yo, Phil, you can't win EVERY year.

So stop worrying about it.

If you want to improve your game, hang out with top pros like Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Annie Duke.

Not Jim Beam, Jack Daniel and Johnny Walker.

By Tom Somach

Gambling911.com

tomsomach@yahoo.com