Author: kurt

Probably no one who shows any interest in professional poker at all will be able to avoid the name Phil Hellmuth. To be honest the U.S. American does his part to be omni-present in the media and has been named Poker Brat for his sometimes rude behaviour at the table. He knows how to market his image and even used his less than flattering nick name to his advantage – he is known for wearing an ice hockey jersey with the number 99 and his nick Poker Brat on the back, the front is covered with a huge Ultimate Bet Logo. He has been the figure head of Ultimate Bet for a long time now and stayed with the controversial poker room despite the so called Superuser Scandal (as explained in our blog post How Secure is Online Poker?) and various other inconsistencies.

Nearly 45 and still in puberty

Phil Hellmuth will turn 45 on July 16, 2009, and yet still displays childish and ill-mannered behaviour that at times would put adolescents to shame. He ascended to fame by winning the WSOP Main Event in 1989 at the age of 24 (the youngest player to win this title until Peter Eastgate in 2008) and to infamy for his insulting and over the top tirades at the poker table. He doesn’t only insult other players, for example by calling them idiots, but sometimes even the card dealers. According to him he is “the best Hold’em tournament player in the world” and “if luck weren’t involved, I guess I’d win every [tournament]”. This arrogance leads to him being viewed as common enemy by some players and the audience and you will sometimes hear taunting after he lost a big hand. This in turn aggravates Phil and so he and the rest of the world sometimes find themselves spurring each other on.

Due to his sometimes rude behaviour and many curse words (on several occasions more than 50% of his words had to be bleeped in TV when he went on a rampage) he also earned another nickname: Hellmouth. Many people claim that nowadays Phil manages to time his outbreaks perfectly and there is always a camera around when he goes on another rant. Others think that he indeed is convinced that he is the best poker player (or at least better than anyone at the table) and thus has a hard time losing. Especially if his opponent is not one of the big names or plays a different or unconventional style.

You may think what you want about his fits of rage and his arrogance – it is a fact that Phil Hellmuth is a poker icon and one of the most famous poker players in the world. And definitely one of the most successful. He has ended up in the money at the WSOP more often than anyone else, ended up at the final table at the WSOP more often than any other player and has a record number of 11 WSOP bracelets so it comes as no surprise that he is a member in the Poker Hall of Fame.

TV directors of all poker related TV broadcasts love him because he guarantees entertainment and controversy. It is said that away from the table the father of two is actually a likeable person. He is involved in various charitable foundations and puts a lot of emphasis on family values. Accordingly he once answered a question about his favourite celebrity “Any celebrity that keeps their family number 1.”

Success at the table and away from it

Phil holds various WSOP records (see above) and is said to have won more than $10 million in poker tournaments so far. Additionally he writes articles for poker magazines, is the author of several books, co-operates with Oakley on special, signed sun glasses, has started his very own clothing company (fittingly named Poker Brat Clothing Company – this man surely knows how to maximise marketing) and has various endorsement deals including his debated connection with the somewhat shady Ultimate Bet.

According to Phil he could earn as much as $400 million next to playing poker. At least that’s what he claimed in an ESPN interview. Even taking into consideration his usual exaggeration you can be sure that he would not end up poor if he indeed decided to quit playing poker all of a sudden. But anyone who knows him couldn’t imagine him quitting the game he loves so much that it sometimes seems to eat him up inside. And if he ever quits then expect it to be with a loud bang! After all we are talking about Phil Hellmuth, Poker Brat by name, Poker Brat by nature.

Today we want to take a look at a player who is still new to the world of professional poker and not yet such an established name as a Chris Ferguson, let alone Doyle Brunson. Nico Behling, 23 years of age, hasn’t even seen a third of the springs that Texas Dolly has and yet isn’t one of the myriad of no-name poker players anymore. The young German from Jena managed to end up in the money at the WSOP 2007 (receiving $18,420 for finishing 43rd) and made sure that we would remember his name by narrowly missing the final table of the Aussie Millions Main Event in 2008. However he was compensated with 175,000 Australian Dollars (which equals approximately €88,500).

In November 2008 Nico Behling finally reached a final table in a big international tournament. In season 5 of the European Poker Tour (EPT) he managed to advance to the final table where he would stay until the bitter end. And bitter it was in a sense because he eventually lost to the Portuguese Joao Barbosa – but once again the money probably helped ease the pain. He proved a fair loser as he immediately congratulated the Portuguese and in the course of the following interviews managed to see the good – the amazing sum of €205,270 which he could take home. Yes, winning a lot of money definitely makes it easier to accept defeat.

For the young German who qualified for this event once more online at Everest Poker playing some of the numerous satellites, this was actually his ninth appearance at the heavily contested EPT – and the first one that saw him end in the money. And impressively so. This fact probably also helped accept the second place. We are looking forward to hearing more from Nico Behling in the future. And if he stays active for as long as the ingenious grandfather of poker, Doyle Brunson, we will be able to cover him for more than half a century still!

Last time I wrote about my favourite poker player, a calm and analytical person – Chris Ferguson. Well, Doyle Brunson falls into the same category, regarding both his player personality as well as my personal admiration for him. He is definitely on my list of people I would like to meet and have a chat with, not necessarily poker related. I hardly dare call him an old man out of fear of sounding disrespectful – however he always is amongst the oldest players at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). And amongst the most successful.

The poker pro and author of numerous poker strategy books that are referred to as poker bibles among serious players is 75 years of age. He was born on August 10, 1933, in Longworth, Texas. He can look back on more than half a century of experience as a professional poker player. He was the first player who managed to win the WSOP Main Event in consecutive years, the first to earn more than $1 million playing poker, one of only 4 players to win the WSOP Main Event more than once, has won 10 WSOP Bracelets (tied for second place with Honny Chan in that category) and the first of 5 players so far to win a WSOP Main Event as well as the World Poker Tour Title. It should not come as a big surprise that he is one of the most famous poker pros and has been inducted to the Hall of Fame as early as 1988. And he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, let alone quitting the game!

Doyle Brunson used to be a very good athlete as he grew up in Longsworth, a small town with approximately 100 inhabitants. He had early success as a basketball player as well as long track runner and showed a lot of promise. However an accident while working forced him to wear a cast on his leg for 2 years and he had to abandon any dreams of a career in sports. From that moment on he concentrated on his studies and poker and found out that playing poker came very easy to him. After finishing his studies he realised that he could earn much more than his regular monthly salary in just a few hours of playing poker and decided to become a professional poker player.

Early career and a misread name

He started earning his first money by participating in illegal games in Fort Worth, Texas, and later also travelled to neighbouring states. Due to poker generally not being legalised back in these days he happened to find himself in some tricky situations on several occasions. Doyle Brunson was on the wrong end of a gun more than once, was held up, beaten up or robbed – you name it. After many turbulent years he eventually ended up in Las Vegas. By now his name is known not only for his poker skills but his much heralded books. One of the most famous of them is the popular Super System (as mentioned by Max in his blog post Sit&Go – Position and Starting Hand Requirements) which is being regarded as the poker bible by many poker players. Even though he claims that he lost a lot of money because of this book because now other players improved their game, he nonetheless managed to win more than an impressive $5,500,000 in live tournaments.

Some people wonder how he got his nickname Texas Dolly – in fact it was a very mundane mistake committed by Jimmy Snyder, an American sports commentator who simply misread Doyle’s last name and introduced him as Texas Dolly. From that moment on he was simply referred to as Dolly by many of his poker friends. His son Todd is also a poker pro and managed to win a WSOP Bracelet in 2005 playing Omaha Hi/Lo. This made Doyle and Todd the first father and son to win WSOP Bracelets.

If we talk about poker legends we will not be able to omit the name Doyle Texas Dolly Brunson – he is arguably one of the players who can claim to have influenced and shaped poker over the past few decades, be it as player or author. And it seems if he has his way this will continue for many years to come. And there is one thing that I really enjoy when he sits at a table: a lot of the usually chatty and noisy players decide to tone it down a bit and show some respect instead. Respect for his age? Rather respect for pure quality and style of one of the poker greats of all time.

Today I want to talk about one of my favourite poker players. Why does he have that status with me? Apart from his magnificent carreer as poker player I simply admire his personality at and away from the table. I don’t think highly of people who believe they need to rely on psychological tricks by misbehaving at the table. Neither do I like it when people simply keep talking and talking in order to annoy someone else (don’t get me wrong, a certain Daniel Negrenau is very talkative indeed, but at least he shows class and humour – Tony G however… well, let’s just say he and I probably would not get along too well).

Chris Ferguson manages to dominate a table quietly simply through his presence and analytical abilities. I also have a lot of respect for his approach to the game itself. He claims that the money is not the most important aspect for him, he likes the challenge and primarily plays for prestige, honour and the satisfaction of having achieved something big when you are the last to stand up from the final table.

This is also the reason why he prefers playing tournaments rather than cash games. He once explained, “I just don’t like taking money from people after figuring out how they play. That’s just not my style. But once they put their money down for a tournament, it’s all over. Now, that money’s gone. I’m out to win the tournament. There’s something to shoot for in a tournament. More than money, I think.”

Of course this is an easy thing to say considering his success so far: 5 WSOP Bracelets and 2 WSOP Circuit Titles – and all in all more than $7,000,000 of prize money won. That sounds like a whole lot – and it is. Especially considering that this is a man who stated in an interview that poker is just something he does for fun and he wants to make a living in analytics and the stock market.

Christopher Philip Ferguson was born on April 11th, 1963, in Los Angeles. His parents have doctoral degrees in mathematics, his father teaches game theory and theoretical probability at UCLA. Chris himself has earned his Ph.D. in computer science. His analytical background shows strongly in his game and works to his advantage. He has researched the game of poker intensely and the photographic memory that he is supposed to have surely helps as well. This man has his built-in Odds Calculator.

How could you not recognise Jesus?

When Chris Ferguson is at a table you would have to be blind not to recognise him instantly. His poker outfit includes a cowboy hat and sun glasses – add to that his charismatic long hair and beard and you have a very unique looking poker player. But not only unique looking … he once started an experiment where he would have to build his bankroll of $0 (nothing, zip, void, nil, zero,…) up to $10,000 – which he did successfully after 16 months of online poker. For him this was merely to satisfy his own curiosity and it was during that experiment that he came up with his already famous bankroll management rules.

Away from the tables he doesn’t wear his hat. It is simply his way of getting into the mood and concentrate on playing poker. He probably earned his nickname Jesus because of his long hair and the quiet, contained demeanour he displays. He doesn’t use this nickname himself but it doesn’t bother him if others do. He is in general a shy person and prefers it if people walk up to him and start a conversation. He is even such a nice guy that he feels guilty when he is in a hurry and a fan chats him up and he has to cut him short.

If you ever happen to be at a WSOP Event (they are his favourite tournaments) and you see a long-haired cowboy, don’t be shy. Chat him up and get to know the person behind the sun glasses. And keep in mind that this quiet fellow is more than just a poker player, you may want to ask him about his success in Swing Ballroom Dancing – yes, he became champion in that discipline.

Chris Ferguson is a man with many interests besides poker. That alone is very impressive for a man as successful at professional poker as he is. To be honest it is hard for me to find any flaw in this man at all. It is very rare to see a man who has had such tremendous success and earned so much money playing poker merely as an extended hobby, who is the center of so much attention anywhere he goes and who still is so down to earth.

After long hours of research and lots of reading I finally found something that I had to disagree with and for the love of mankind I sincerely hope you are with me on this. When asked for his favourite movie Chris Ferguson answered ‘Monty Python’s Holy Grail’ while we all know the correct answer would have been ‘Monty Python’s Life of Brian’ – so close, Mr. Ferguson. Close but no cigar. That proves that no one is perfect, not even Jesus.