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Professional player Phil Hellmuth waves to fans as he is carried into the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on the third day of the World Series of Poker on Sunday, July 5, 2009.
Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.
Q&A with Jeff Shulman
- Jeff Shulman, who finished fifth in the 2009 World Series of Poker, answered questions from Las Vegas Sun readers Monday.
Final Table Chip Count
- Darvin Moon — 58,930,000
- Eric Buchman — 34,800,000
- Steven Begleiter — 29,885,000
- Jeff Shulman — 19,580,000
- Joe Cada — 13,215,000
- Kevin Schaffel — 12,390,000
- Phil Ivey — 9,765,000
- Antoine Saout - 9,500,000
- James Akenhead — 6,800,000
Showing Their Cards
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With the final table set, ESPN's Norman Chad and Lon McEachern weigh in on life behind the scenes of the World Series of Poker.
Sun Coverage
A number of business ventures have brought poker pro Phil Hellmuth to Las Vegas for the week.
Hellmuth is promoting his new book, "Deal Me In," with a signing at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Summerlin Barnes & Noble. He’s also coaching World Series of Poker Main Event final table participant Jeff Shulman.
“Even if I wasn’t,” Hellmuth said, “I wouldn’t miss this.”
Hellmuth said he was more interested with this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event final table -- which begins play at noon Saturday at the Penn & Teller Theater in the Rio -- than any in recent years.
Like most poker fans, Hellmuth’s intrigue starts with Phil Ivey. Hellmuth, who has won a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, has even bestowed his own nickname upon Ivey — "Triple Threat."
“The reason I’m calling him Triple Threat is because he’s one of the biggest winners in online poker games, one of the biggest winners in real-world poker games and he’s a great tournament player,” Hellmuth said.
Hellmuth said he spoke with Ivey, who enters seventh in chips with 9.7 million, earlier in the week and that he accepted his new moniker with a laugh.
At 33 years old, Ivey has already won seven World Series of Poker bracelets and is widely considered the best player in the world.
If Ivey pulls off a world championship with a short stack, it would all but confirm his status.
“Don’t misquote me, I’m not saying he’s the greatest, but he’s phenomenal. He seems to be at the top,” Hellmuth said. “But he’s never won a hold ’em tournament. If he wants to take me down from the top of hold ’em tournaments, he’s going to have to fight.”
Hellmuth does not expect Ivey to win the bracelet. Of course, Hellmuth predicted that Shulman would beat out the remaining eight.
Hellmuth said his coaching sessions with Shulman went even better than expected. Hellmuth brought in former Major League Baseball pitcher and current poker pro Orel Hershiser and poker pro Barry Greenstein to assist in his coaching of Shulman.
Hellmuth said there was no doubt Shulman was better prepared than every other player at the table.
“I felt like he was the favorite anyway,” Hellmuth said. “But now I feel like he is the strong favorite.”
Shulman is fourth in chips, behind Darvin Moon, Eric Buchman and Steven Begleiter. Although Hellmuth is infamous for criticizing players and their style of play, he had nothing negative to say about the top three.
“The play looked pretty reasonable,” Hellmuth said. “I didn’t see any horrible plays.”
Moon is a tougher critic on himself than Hellmuth. Throughout the tournament, Moon said he was one of the worst 100 players in the field of 6,500.
Moon credited getting amazing cards for his run through the Main Event. Hellmuth, who referred to Moon as a "folk hero," disagreed.
“He’s not one of the worst players, that’s for sure,” Hellmuth said. “He had the patience to wait for strong hands and then he played them. There’s probably 300 people who had as good as luck as Darvin did and blew themselves out by playing stupid.”
But Hellmuth said he thinks neither Moon nor Ivey is ready for Shulman. Hellmuth even promised a few surprises from Shulman.
Hellmuth said he taught Shulman a few new tactics that would become the talk of the poker world. Combine that with Shulman’s already solid play and Hellmuth sounds convinced that his pupil is about to make history.
“He understands how to play and win,” Hellmuth said. “This is a guy with a whole lot of experience. I like his chances.”
Carnival lasts all year at the Rio. With a float occasionally passing overhead and dropping beads while feathered dancers fire up the gamblers below, the Rio tries to keep its 120,000-square foot casino jumping with excitement. Special Brazilian mixed-drinks are also served throughout the casino. The hotel suites tend to be larger than similar priced rooms on the Strip and many offer excellent views with floor to ceiling windows.
The Rio offers some quality shows like "Penn & Teller" and "Chippendales." Many come to the Rio for the nightlife at the VooDoo Lounge, located on the 51st floor, or McFadden's Irish Pub on the casino level.
Others come for a bit relaxation at the Rio Spa or pool area and still others come to shop at the hotel's 60,000 square feet of shops. In each of these endeavors, the Rio attempts to make the experience a bit more fun and spontaneous.
The Rio also offers guests a variety of dining choices from all-American food at the All-American Bar & Grille to Gaylord India Restaurant for something a little spicier and even Carnival World Buffet for the indecisive.
what a douche? he hasnt come as close as ivey has 4 times in the last 6 yrs, as hellmuth won the main event 20 yrs ago when there were 10 times fewer entries!!! ivey doesnt play small buy ins in NL where he wins his braclets. ivey also has a wpt win and 9 final tables there,,,helmuth??
PH IS the talk of the poker world but for reasons other than his playing abilities. However, he lets his emotions get the best of him at times which gets him in trouble. If he wants to have fun dressing up and pulling strange stunts, who cares? I still enjoy watching him because he is unpredictable.
Hellmuth is a fraud and a joke this scumbag coukd not win a 52 card pick up game. He is a loser and always has been. Only a girly man would allow himself to be carried around like a fairy.
Hellmuth is a great player ..too bad he has absolutely no class.
But class has never been prevalent in the world of poker.
They should call him BABYFACE Hellmuth.The only reason he has so many bracelet is because not as many people were in those series.He will not win anymore,I hope he has saved his money. HE IS OUT and needs to grow up.
PH is a TV STAR and therefor his performance at television TV tables is irrelevant. In the movie "Network" Howard Beal asks Ned Beatty why he was chosen to deliver the message of capitalism to the world, the reply is..."because you're on TV, dummy."
The most valuable asset a poker player can accumulate is facetime on TV. Almost any TV. Why do you think Full Tilt buys all that expensive time. UB relies on the WSOP to create broadcast opportunities for PH, Annie and others, but bottom line: TV = $.
Phil's a pretty smart cookie. TV time is $$$. Attn: poker players, 'splain that to your agents.
Hellmuth is Da man!
Some great TV will be when Phil calls the wrong person an idiot & gets a few teeth knocked out. That day will eventually happen.
Phil is a tool
DC Thomas: "Network"--yes! I couldn't believe it when "Rocky" beat "Network" for the best picture Oscar. On the other hand, "Network" seems dated now, because everything in the movie came true! PH is the most uncharismatic celebrity in the world, but it's obvious from reading his book "PH's Texas Hold-em" that he has an encyclopedic knowledge of poker, beginning with the basic strategy of what the numerical odds are for any hand in any situation, in any type of game.