Hellmuth said his father died peacefully in his sleep on Sunday afternoon following a nine-month battle with cancer. The 17-time WSOP bracelet winner said the family had been given time to say goodbye and described those final months together as a gift.
“He was honest, honorable, and completely trustworthy,” Hellmuth wrote in a lengthy tribute to his father.
Phil Hellmuth Sr. Built a Remarkable Career of His Own
Long before his son became one of poker’s most famous players, Phil Hellmuth Sr. had built an accomplished life in Wisconsin.
He earned a JD from Marquette University as well as an MBA and PhD, before spending his professional career at the University of Wisconsin. University records identify Hellmuth Sr. as an associate dean emeritus of the College of Letters and Science, while his son said his work also involved grants and patents.
Hellmuth Sr. also had a decades-long association with the University of Wisconsin Credit Union. UW-Madison records show he had been a member of its board of directors since 1971, and Hellmuth said his father ultimately spent two decades as chairman of the board.
That achievement apparently wasn’t something he was particularly interested in advertising.
Hellmuth recalled asking his father about having his name engraved on the UW Credit Union headquarters. His response was characteristically understated, explaining that it was simply something done for the chairman.
Only after his father’s death, Hellmuth said, had he fully understood the extent of that humility.
From Disapproving of Poker to 34 Years at the WSOP
The relationship between Phil Hellmuth and his father also provides an extraordinary thread running through the Poker Brat’s career.
Hellmuth attended the University of Wisconsin but left before graduating to pursue poker professionally. For a father who had accumulated three advanced degrees and built his own career within the university, it was not an obvious choice to embrace.
Hellmuth has previously described considerable tension between them during his younger years. As the oldest of five children, he was expected to perform academically and provide an example for his younger brother and three sisters.
Professional poker in the 1980s also carried a very different public image from the game today. Hellmuth recalled that his father initially viewed the decision to become a professional poker player in terms considerably less flattering than a legitimate career.
Then came 1989.
Hellmuth Sr. travelled to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, despite having little previous interest in watching or playing the game. His son proceeded to defeat defending champion Johnny Chan heads-up and become the youngest WSOP Main Event champion in history at the time.
Hellmuth has written about searching for his father immediately after winning. The embrace between them after the final hand became one of the defining personal moments behind a victory that launched one of poker’s greatest tournament careers.
It wasn’t a one-off appearance.
According to Hellmuth, his father subsequently attended the WSOP for 34 consecutive years. He was also there in 2006 when his son captured bracelet number ten and drew level with Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson at the top of the all-time standings.
Hellmuth eventually moved far beyond that record and remains the most successful bracelet winner in WSOP history. His father had been there for much of the journey from the first bracelet onwards.
A Father Proud of All Five Children
An interview with Hellmuth Sr. during the 2008 WSOP offered another glimpse of the man his son has now described.
Rather than concentrating exclusively on his famous eldest son, he spoke proudly about all five Hellmuth children. He discussed David’s legal career, Molly’s work as a research scientist, Kerry’s background as a professional cyclist and Ann’s achievements as a Special Olympian.
“All five of them have reached the top in whatever they have decided to do,” he said at the time. “Phil just happens to be the most famous.”
His support for Ann extended considerably further. Hellmuth said his father coached Ann and her Special Olympics swimming team for 25 years.
Swimming was a major part of Hellmuth Sr.’s own life too. His son said he covered more than 10,000 miles in the water over his lifetime and competed at a high level in Masters Swimming.
Sport remained a shared interest throughout the family.
Hellmuth Sr. followed the Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers, while his university connections included serving on an athletic board. His son took him to Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego when the Packers faced the Denver Broncos, another experience Hellmuth remembered in his tribute.
Poker Became Part of the Hellmuth Family
The father’s initial reservations about professional poker ultimately make the next three decades particularly striking.
Hellmuth Sr. went from questioning his son’s decision to leave university to becoming a familiar presence around his poker career. By 2008, he and wife Lynn were still making trips to Las Vegas to watch their son compete at the WSOP.
Poker itself has since become increasingly embedded in the wider Hellmuth family. Phil’s sons Phillip Hellmuth III and Nicholas Hellmuth have both played the game, while their father’s appearances continue across tournaments, televised cash games and events such as the recently returned National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
Hellmuth’s career has also taken him well beyond simply playing for bracelets. He has been involved in numerous fundraising events over the years, part of poker’s much wider history of raising money for charitable causes.
But the story Hellmuth shared this week was not about bracelets, money or the Poker Brat.
It was about his dad.
The image he chose was of a “big Oak Tree,” someone solid and dependable whose family could always count on him. After a lifetime that included an accomplished university career, decades of public service, thousands of miles in the swimming pool and 34 consecutive years supporting his son at the WSOP, Phil Hellmuth Sr. leaves behind a remarkable legacy of his own.
Poker Type extends its condolences to Phil Hellmuth, his mother Lynn, his siblings David, Molly, Kerry and Ann, and the entire Hellmuth family.
