Hellmuth, the guy is a legend

[Acidmouse]

Is it not harder to win no limit holdem bracelets as it attracts more numbers than the other forms of poker?

[tikay]

Prize plonker.

how much of the table antics are "contrived" by someone aware of their possible impact on opponents, is is he a real idiot?

I look back at McEnroe, for example, and the vast majority of the antics were for show, or if not to pysche himself up.

Now McEnroe is lauded and much missed in an era of robots, personality wise

History will presumably look kinder on Hellmuth than contemporary analysis of his character suggests....?

McEnroe's rather excellent Biography "Serious" suggests his "antics" when playing were simply that he could not control his emotions. He recognizes now though, what a pratt he made himself look, & how in fact it harmed his game.

He's mellowed wonderfully though, & has become a true "elder Statesman" of Tennis, and is a simply majestic commentator. It's worth watching Wimbledon on the Beeb just to listen to him.

Strange how some folks become more popular after their main career has finished. Lady Thatcher, ex-President Carter, John Major, etc.

[MKKfish]

James, (well anybody for that matter), do you have a link to video of final table that doesn't use the pokerlisting.com site, (for some reason my PC goes all girly and doesn't behave at that site).

Cheers,
Feesh

[Jon MW]

Has he ever won a bracelet in a poker game other than hold em? That would be the mark of a legend IMHO

He's a one trick pony but its some trick 

Sums it up, the best holdem tournament player

He is a flash in the pan
the word legend is used too easily these days
wait till he has been winning comps all over the world for years and years before we describe him as a legend

11 bracelets over 18 years isn't good enough for you?

[AndrewT]

11 bracelets over 18 years isn't good enough for you?

Bear in mind that the bracelets for events other than the Main Event didn't have the same cachet back then. The other top players used to mock Hellmuth for breaking his neck to win as many bracelets as he could - they preferred to play in the juicy side games as they'd make more money (the side events did not have huge prize pools back then). So the fields were smaller and softer.

[Jon MW]

11 bracelets over 18 years isn't good enough for you?

Bear in mind that the bracelets for events other than the Main Event didn't have the same cachet back then. The other top players used to mock Hellmuth for breaking his neck to win as many bracelets as he could - they preferred to play in the juicy side games as they'd make more money (the side events did not have huge prize pools back then). So the fields were smaller and softer.

But the first one was the main event wasn't it?
and now he's still winning against a huge field - so 18 years - not really  a flash in the pan?

[AndrewT]

11 bracelets over 18 years isn't good enough for you?

Bear in mind that the bracelets for events other than the Main Event didn't have the same cachet back then. The other top players used to mock Hellmuth for breaking his neck to win as many bracelets as he could - they preferred to play in the juicy side games as they'd make more money (the side events did not have huge prize pools back then). So the fields were smaller and softer.

But the first one was the main event wasn't it?
and now he's still winning against a huge field - so 18 years - not really  a flash in the pan?

AndrewT /= 77dave

[77dave]

Did you think i was serious in my post

i think hellmuth is in the top5 holdem tourny players of all time

because of his manner at the table he gets a lot of stick but at the end of the day results speak for themselves
ok he has entered a lot of comps but holding the record for most bracelets most cashes and im sure by the end of this series will have the record for the most final tables

[dealerFROMhell]

He is a flash in the pan
the word legend is used too easily these days
wait till he has been winning comps all over the world for years and years before we describe him as a legend

I totally agree with Jim here, even if he was joking!

How someone can call Phil a legend, then use the same word to describe someone like Stu Ungar is beyond me.

[portfolio]

is living legend a better  epitaph than??

[Sark79]

Surely Hellmuth is better than Unger.  He plays against thousands of good players each WSOP.  Even in 1997, the fields were much smaller and there were less top players.  Even a guy who has been playing online for a few months can go to the WSOP now and not embarrass himself/herself now.  I doubt when Unger was at his peak he faced many players who he had no knowledge of,  Hellmuth has to do this every WSOP.  Doesn't this make him a better player as he is forced to adapt to various players each year. 

[Acidmouse]

You should watch the poker documentry on Unger on PokerTube, I have no doubt he was the best ever after watching that. His % of wins in big tourneys will never be matched. Even though the numbers were lower then, you get alot more fish these days.

[AndrewT]

You should watch the poker documentry on Unger on PokerTube, I have no doubt he was the best ever after watching that. His % of wins in big tourneys will never be matched. Even though the numbers were lower then, you get alot more fish these days.

But back then, very few players were fully aware of the difference between tournament poker and cash game poker. Simple aggression would have provided such an advantage back then because so many players would let themselves get blinded away to nothing.

[bolt pp]

it's stupid trying to measure whos the top dog by anything other than success!

Is negreanu better than ivey?

brunson better than chan?

bloom better than vaswani?

It's too difficult to say, all you can do is look at what they've won/achieved and in that respect hellmuth is the top boy now.

[kinboshi]

You should watch the poker documentry on Unger on PokerTube, I have no doubt he was the best ever after watching that. His % of wins in big tourneys will never be matched. Even though the numbers were lower then, you get alot more fish these days.

In tournaments with large fields, even if the best player is twice as good as everyone else in the field he's still not likely to win it.  A lot of luck involved, and the bigger the field, the more luck is required.