In a post on his twitter, Phil said that he only owns one of his 17 gold bracelets. He gave all the rest as gifts to his family and friends. Phil's parents, children, wife or siblings are not missing from the list:
- The only one he kept
- Father
- Mother
- Wife
- Sister Ann
- Half brother John Sanborn
- Son Philip
- Son Nick
- Brother David
- Sister Kerry
- Sister Molly
- Greg Pierson
- Chamath Palihapitiya
- Wife of Davea Goldberg
- Bill Lee
- Sky Dayton
- Dacid Sacks
He gave the last bracelet to the founder of the American Internet provider EarthLink, David Sacks, and it seems that Phil does not consider his collection final - the next one, with the serial number 18, he plans to give to businessman Rick Thompson. The only bracelet he kept is from the WSOP Main Event, which he won in in 1989.
He received admiration and enthusiastic reactions from his fans for the gesture in the comments on Twitter, but the post was not without a touch of controversy. It was brought into the discussion by poker journalist Haley Hintze, who drew attention to the name shining on Phil's 12th bracelet.
That Hellmuth donated to Greg Pierson, who was involved in the case surrounding the Ultimate Bet casino. Phil Hellmuth was one of Ultimate Bet's most recognizable faces along with Annie Duke when it was in operation. Despite others dominating the market at the time, Ultimate Bet was one of the few to offer players online high-stakes cash games.
Ultimate Bet representatives were shown that using the so-called "god mode" they could see the cards of other players and use this to optimize their game. Thousands of players have lost more than $50 million to this scam over the years Ultimate Bet has been operating. The scam was discovered in 2007 by players discussing the suspicious behavior and improbably high win rates of several accounts on forums. At that time, the aforementioned reporter Hintze was investigating the case. However, Hellmuth himself was cleared of all fraud-related charges.
In any case, Hellmuth surprised in a positive way with this gesture. Poker professional Chris Wallace devoted an entire article to his behavior and personality back in 2021. At the time, he commented on his address as follows: "The public sees Hellmuth's inappropriate behavior on TV tables, and then many think he is a moron. But those who know him know that he is a kind and gentle person who is often quite modest and has his heart in the palm of his hand." This time, others could also be convinced of his words.
And in order not to be alone in this act, another player - Shaun Deeb, who is on his way to winning the title of WSOP player of the year - touched the poker community a few days ago. In addition to playing, Deeb found time to attend a memorial event honoring his longtime friend and poker pro Thayer Rasmussen. Rasmussen died in April of this year at the age of 39, and Deeb dedicated his sixth gold bracelet to his mother.
Source: PokerNews, Twitter, GutShotMagazine, UpswingPoker, Cardschat
