Poker
brat remembers
Texas
Holdem hands from the '80s
There are good
Texas
Holdem
poker
players who quietly win all of their opponents' money
and then there are good poker players who do it loudly
and brashly. Phil Hellmuth Jr. would be in the latter
category. The Madison native and youngest winner of the
prestigious World Series of Poker No Limit Texas Hold 'Em
tournament has made a nice living for himself at the
poker table, and now that poker is hugely popular,
Hellmuth is hot. His first book, "Play Poker Like the
Pros," has been on the New York Times bestseller list,
he endorses an online poker site, Hollywood producers
are considering making a movie on his life, and now he's
just finished another book, "Bad Beats and Lucky Draws."
He will visit Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop, 2559 N. Downer
Ave., at 8 p.m. Nov. 5 and will also stop at University
Bookstore, 711 State St., Madison at 6 p.m. Nov. 4 to
promote his new book. Hellmuth talked about poker
Tuesday with Journal Sentinel reporter Meg Jones.
Q.
Your new book, "Bad Beats and Lucky Draws," replays some
of the best, worst and highest paying poker hands - is
there one hand that stands out in your mind as one of
the best you've ever played?
A. I
don't know if it made the book but there was one hand
that I threw away against Howard Lederer - a hand I'm
not just supposed to fold. I was pretty happy. The hand
came king (of diamonds), 8 (of diamonds), 3 (of spades)
on the flop. I had the king, 8 of hearts and I folded my
hand on the flop because Howard started talking. When he
started talking, I started chatting. I kind of let him
know I had the top two pair, and then after I hinted
around that I had that, he kept talking, and it became
obvious he wanted me to call. It took five minutes, and
I threw the hand away, and I think it's one of the best
folds I ever made in my life. He had three 3s.
Q.
Any idea how many hands of poker you've played in your
lifetime? How do you remember exactly which cards came
up on so many hands?
A.
No idea. It's weird. I'll say this to you - I sometimes
can't remember someone's name when I met them two
minutes before, and yet I vividly remember details of
hands in the '80s.
Q.
What kind of reaction did you get from people when you
decided to become a poker player? What kind of reaction
do you get now?
A.
No one really knew I had become a full-time
Texas
Holdem poker player except for my parents. You can
imagine the reaction I got from them. If I said I was a
full time poker player 15 years ago, people would look
at me with interest but a little prejudice, and now they
look at me with interest and admiration. It's kind of
weird. It's not easy to be a professional poker player.
It's a great lifestyle, but it's not easy to pull off.
You're going to have ups and downs, and you're going to
have to deal with them.
Q.
You've been called the John McEnroe of Texas Holdem
poker, but are you really a poker brat, or is that just
part of your image?
A. I
am a poker brat but never away from the tables, and 95%
of the time at the tables I'm fine. But I really am a
major poker brat 5% of the time at the tables. I would
blame it on passion. I would blame it on wanting to win.
I would blame it on bonehead plays that amateurs make.
Q.
I'm sure you get this question a lot, but why is poker
suddenly so popular?
A. I
think that it's a game that anyone can play. It's a game
that anyone can become great at, and I think it's just
very dramatic television. The one thing the hole card
cameras did is they made it clear that Texas Hold 'Em is
an easy game to play - four rounds of betting, five
cards on the board and two cards in your hand. Simple.
Although it takes five minutes to learn, it does take a
lifetime to master.
