Hellmuth, Again

Not too much time for scribbling today, partly because I’m trying to get my act together in preparation for flying out to Las Vegas on Monday. Going back again to help cover the World Series of Poker with PokerNews, and so will be there for the rest of the WSOP.

Instead I’m just going to point you to a couple of other WSOP-related bits of writing I’ve done over the past week or so.

One is a column for PokerListings in which I looked back at the two-hour ESPN show dedicated to the final table of the 2002 WSOP, the last “pre-boom” WSOP in which Robert Varkonyi surprisingly won. The column is titled “Before the Boom: Re-watching the 2002 WSOP,” and in it I pulled out various details from the broadcast to talk about, mainly looking at how different the scene was a decade ago compared to today.

An element of Varkonyi’s win and the ESPN show that gets talked about a lot was Phil Hellmuth’s promise during the early stages of the final table to shave his head should Varkonyi win. I mention that in the column, though don’t make too much of it.

However, I do make a lot of Hellmuth in the other piece I wanted to point you to, a column for Betfair Poker occasioned by Hellmuth’s winning his 12th WSOP bracelet earlier this week, titled “Hellmuth Stands Over All at the WSOP.” I spent a little time poring over his WSOP stats and all of those records he now holds, and ending up pulling out some interesting tidbits regarding what he’s done at the WSOP from 1988-2012.

Probably the most curious thing I realized when looking at Hellmuth’s WSOP record was that of all 89 cashes he’s had (including 45 final tables), his win in this year’s razz event marked his very first cash in a razz tourney at the WSOP.

Speaking of Hellmuth’s 12th bracelet, you might recall that post-victory interview with Hellmuth by Lynn Gilmartin that I embedded in a post earlier this week. A snippet of that interview actually appeared on ESPN’s Sports Nation show yesterday.

In the interview, Hellmuth is a little bit cheeky about what he plans to do with the bracelet, saying he’s giving it to someone but refusing to provide a name for the intended recipient. Haley Hintze has an interesting theory about who Hellmuth might have in mind. She has posted a column over on Kick Ass Poker about the topic, if you’re curious.

I hope you enjoy all of those reads. And have a good weekend.