Otherwise known as “Poker Brat,” Phil Hellmuth was born July 16, 1964, in Madison, Wisconsin. He completed three years at the University of Wisconsin before pursuing a professional poker career. Known for his outbursts and a short temper, he remains a highly regarded poker professional. While other cash-game players scoffed at his attempts to collect World Series of Poker bracelets, they wonder now if he might have foreseen their value in today’s poker culture.

Hellmuth won the 1989 World Series of Poker championship event at only 24 years of age. He's made the money in more than 100 major tournaments. At the 2007 WSOP, Hellmuth pulled away from the three-way tie between him, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan when he won his eleventh bracelet. He has also won the 2005 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship as well as made the final table of the 2008 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic.

Hellmuth has written many columns for Card Player magazine, and is the author of Play Poker Like the Pros, Bad Beats and Lucky Draws, and The Greatest Poker Hands Ever Played. He has distributed and directed several instructional DVDs. He's also a representative of UltimateBet.com as well as a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.