Phil Hellmuth in My Corner

I’ve had a lot of friends and fellow poker players ask me what I’m doing to prepare for the November World Series of Poker final table.
So far, I’ve played only one online tournament. Waiting three months to finish the event is just brutal, and all the time thinking about it is making me anxious.

After talking to Phil Hellmuth, I decided that I could use some help.
I asked Phil to help me get ready for the final table by talking poker, analyzing past tournaments and situations, profiling my opponents’ play and tendencies, and offering me tips, tricks, and strategies from his own arsenal.


While I feel my game is good, I know that it could use some fine-tuning; everyone’s could. Overall, while our table demeanors are polar opposites, Phil and I have similar playing styles. The only difference is that he wins when he gets close and I haven’t.

I figure that if the best athletes in the world use coaches (Tiger Woods does, and I’m sure not in his category), I know that I can get much better with good instruction.

Phil is a partner in business (he’s the third-largest stockholder in Card Player) and a good friend. His track record of tournament poker success is unmatched in the game. With 11 WSOP bracelets and more than $10.5 million in tournament winnings, he’s shown that he knows how to finish.

Phil and I have already talked about a few cool ways to document and share some of the training with the Card Player community. Be sure to check out CardPlayer.com over the course of the next month to sneak a peek into our training program.

Initially, I had another Phil in mind for the coaching gig. That was Phil Ivey. But, as luck would have it, Ivey is unavailable.