Call It Fate
2007-06-12 13:57:13
By: Gene Bromberg
Was there really any chance that Phil Hellmuth wouldn't win his 11th bracelet...on June 11th? Were the planets aligned in such a way that the other eight players sitting at yesterday's final table could only hope for second place? Well...almost certainly not. Poker is a game of skill (with some luck thrown in for spice) and Phil Hellmuth is the owner of eleven bracelets not because he's one of the luckiest players in history, but because he's one of the best.
"Poker players everywhere measure themselves against each other by how many WSOP bracelets they have," said Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the World Series of Poker. "Now, all WSOP bracelet holders must measure themselves against Phil Hellmuth. He is a true sports champion and we could not be happier for him."
Two of poker's other great champions were there to cheer Phil on. Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan, both ten-time bracelet winners and two-time World Champions, presented the bracelet and put it on Phil's wrist. "This is the one I really wanted," Hellmuth said at the post-tournament press conference. "I have so much respect for Doyle and Johnny. To now be at the top of the all-time list is really about as good a feeling as I have ever had."
And when Phil left the Amazon Room and walked into the hallway he looked happy. Relieved. Humbled, even. It's a huge accomplishment, even for a player known for his extraordinary ambition. But as badly as Phil wanted that bracelet, and as hard as he had to work to get it, it won't be on his wrist for very long. Phil gives his bracelets away to members of his family and he'd already decided who would get number eleven--with numerology again figuring into the equation.
"(The bracelet) feels really good but I'm not going to have it for long. It's going to New York to my sister Molly, who was born on 11-11...it's perfect. It's her bracelet now."
Phil said that he might give away his next bracelet to one of his business partners...yes, he's already thinking about number 12. Actually, he's thinking far beyond that even:
"I'm trying to win 24 bracelets in my life, that's 11 so I have 13 more to go," he said. "If I hit 24 I'll re-adjust, I'll go for 30." Why did he pick that particular number of titles to win? "Pull a number out of thin air...24! When I was young I said it'd be nice to win 24 bracelets, and I thought, 'Oh, I like that number.' So I just starting thinking along those lines. It's something to aspire to."
And if you want to win 24 bracelets you have to play a lot of World Series events, and that's what Phil's is doing today--yes, he's playing in today's $1,000 No-Limit Shootout event. There's no time to rest on your laurels when you're reaching for immortality.
;)
And I know I posted that picture yesterday, but take a good look at it, especially if you're playing in today's event. Because yesterday Phil Hellmuth won his 11th bracelet. Today he's going for number 12. And if you forget that simple fact, your chips might end up in another Hellmuth photo shoot in three days time.
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