The poker world received sad news when it was revealed that Phil Hellmuth Sr., the father of poker legend Phil Hellmuth Jr., had passed away on Sunday after a nine-month battle with cancer.
Hellmuth shared the news in a post on social media.
Hellmuth Sr. was extremely accomplished in the world of academics. He had a Juris Doctor from Marquette University, which is where he met his future wife, Lynn. He also had a PhD and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), spending his entire storied career working at the University of Wisconsin Letters and Science Department.
“Can you imagine how he reacted to my dropping out of university to play poker professionally?” Hellmuth Jr. wrote in his autobiography, Poker Brat, about informing his parents of his decision to drop out of college to pursue poker. “I was the son who had to go to college, who had to get good grades. I was the son he had tried desperately to mold and shape.”
Despite butting heads with his dad in his younger days, Hellmuth Jr. would soon introduce his dad to big-time poker. In late 1988, he offered to take his dad on a vacation anywhere he wanted to go. Despite having never watched or played poker, he chose to accompany his son to the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
“I had to smile, because he was finally showing me support,” Hellmuth wrote. “He kept saying to me, ‘You are going to win the thing, right?’”
Hellmuth said that he would, but put a condition on it.
“I had told my dad that he could not watch me play during the Main Event, because I felt it would distract me,” Hellmuth said. While he didn’t watch, Hellmuth Sr. was there every day supporting his son, even bringing him bananas and whatnot.
Ultimately, Hellmuth bested Johnny Chan to win the 1989 WSOP Main Event for his first gold bracelet, and in the winning moment, he sought out his dad.
“Within seconds, I began to scan the room. Where is my father? And suddenly Dad appears, running between the stands. There is $1 million in cash on the table, and the security guard stops Dad, but I wave him through, and the embrace that I have with my father at that moment was one of the sweetest embraces of my life! Dad tells me how proud he is of me. He tells me how much he loves me. My father is there when I achieve my lifetime goal. To me, that’s absolutely priceless.”
It was far from the last special moment the Hellmuths would spend together. For example, in 1998, Hellmuth Jr. took his dad to Super Bowl XXXII to watch their beloved Green Bay Packers take on the Denver Broncos.
Hellmuth Sr. was incredibly proud of his family, which he talked about often. That included a 2008 interview with writer Gary Trask.
“All five of them hate to lose, and it comes from watching Phil all of their lives because he was the oldest. It’s that confidence in themselves and that fierce competitiveness that has helped them achieve the great things that they have done with their lives,” said Hellmuth Sr.
“All five of them have reached the top in whatever they have decided to do. Phil just happens to be the most famous.”
PokerNews offers its condolences to the family of Phil Hellmuth.
*Images courtesy of Phil Hellmuth & Poker Brat.
Chad Holloway
PR & Media Manager