On June 11, my man Phil Hellmuth captured his 11th
World Series of Poker gold bracelet. In doing so, he passed Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan and became the all-time leader in
World Series of Poker bracelets won.
It's been an epic career for Phil. In 1989, he became the youngest
WSOP champ (he was 24 years old at the time) when he bested Johnny Chan for the biggest title in poker. In 1992, he added his second bracelet, and then had a monster year in 1993 when he picked up three more. He picked up more jewelry in 1997, 2001, 2003, and 2006, and now has seven no-limit hold'em, three limit hold'em, and one pot-limit hold'em bracelet. All told, he now has a record 60
WSOP cashes.
With his recent victory, the $637,254 in prize money almost seemed insignificant. Instead, his accomplishments spanning nearly three decades and this record prove that Phil is probably the best tournament hold'em player ever to play the game.
All of us at
Card Player send our congratulations to Phil and hope that the race between him, Brunson, and Chan remains exciting.
This is
Card Player's first issue published during the 2007
WSOP. We've included recaps of the first batch of bracelet events, and will be including recaps from each and every event in the upcoming issues, but if you want to keep up with the action in real time, lock your browser on CardPlayer.com.
In this issue, we take a look at one of the online sites that keeps on growing despite U.S. legislation intended to stunt the industry.
PokerStars, which has made a ton of news over the last few months for its huge Sunday tournaments and dealing its 10-billionth hand, made another huge announcement at the
WSOP.
Team PokerStars landed the
Card Player 2004 Player of the Year Daniel Negreanu. With more than $10 million in tournament winnings, three
WSOP bracelets, and two
World Poker Tour titles, he not only is one of the game's most consistent players, but also one of the most personable and entertaining.
Also, 2006
WSOP bracelet winner Jon Friedberg shares some simple tips to make it through the grueling, long tournament days. Friedberg, who is hosting a strategy talk show,
Stacking Chips on
Card Player TV (CardPlayer.com/tv),
already has made a final table this year. His guests include a who's who of young up-and-coming players, and the show is guaranteed to improve your game.
Also on
Card Player TV is
Scooped, a new show that we launched for the
WSOP. My two good friends Diego Cordovez and Adam Schoenfeld are hosting this informative show, and they have caught up with all of poker's big names. It's a must-see this summer.
