New York Times Spotlights New Video Poker Machine

Date: 2013.09.10 | Category: Poker | By: Phil Hellmuth   

Sunday’s NYT Magazine featured a terrific article about an amazing new video poker game (featuring me!) that will debut in casinos around the world this autumn.  Let me know if you get a chance to play!

(written by Michael Kaplan, reposed from NYT.com)

Stroll among the games at the Cosmopolitan, the newest casino on the Las Vegas Strip, and you might be overwhelmed by the latest whooping and flashing gambling machines. All the high-resolution monitors and video effects, devoted to themes ranging from deep-sea-fishing expeditions to Spider-Man to the unsubtlest visions of cash washing over lucky winners, are only the most obvious signs of technology’s move onto the casino floor. Behind the scenes, server-based gaming now enables managers to rapidly alter payouts, raise or reduce betting minimums, even change games themselves. (In just minutes, a bank of slot machines styled for dance clubbers can be rethemed to appeal to church ladies on a Sunday afternoon.) But a few deceptively prim-looking machines represent an even greater technological leap, the biggest advance in automated gambling since Charles Fey introduced the one-armed bandit in 1895. They owe the way they play to artificial intelligence.

The machines, called Texas Hold ‘Em Heads Up Poker, play the limit version of the popular game so well that they can be counted on to beat poker-playing customers of most any skill level. Gamblers might win a given hand out of sheer luck, but over an extended period, as the impact of luck evens out, they must overcome carefully trained neural nets that self-learned to play aggressively and unpredictably with the expertise of a skilled professional. Later this month, a new souped-up version of the game, endorsed by Phil Hellmuth, who has won more World Series of Poker tournaments than anyone, will have its debut at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. The machines will then be rolled out into casinos around the world.

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John McCain’s Online Poker Fever

Date: 2013.09.10 | Category: Lifestyle, Poker | By: Phil Hellmuth   

Very very clever… John McCain playing poker during Senate Hearings.

Posted by TeamCoco.com

Lately…

Date: 2013.08.26 | Category: Lifestyle, Poker | By: Phil Hellmuth   

Behind the scenes!  Filming my “White Magic” segment for ESPN’s World Series of Poker coverage

A big fire north of Las Vegas caused this beautiful picture at sunset from TPC Summerlin Golf Course

My ride home from Pinehurst #2 to San Francisco (the “live lucky” jet!)

WSOP Main Event: Day 1 Recap

Date: 2013.07.10 | Category: Poker | By: Phil Hellmuth   

After Day 1 of the 2013 WSOP Main Event, I’m happier than I should be for simply making Day 2.  The day got off to a late start, but I was able to rally to finish STRONG!  Check out Bluff Magazine’s blow-by-blow recap of the proceedings below…

Phil Hellmuth Runs Up Big Stack Late on Day 1C of 2013 WSOP Main Event

The 2013 WSOP Main Event would be incomplete without Phil Hellmuth. The 13-time bracelet winner and 1989 World Champion has not matched his 2011 and 2012 performances at the World Series of Poker, but that’s understandable. Hellmuth finished second in the WSOP Player of the Year race the last two years, winning bracelet number 12 in Vegas in the summer of 2012 and getting number 13 in style by taking the WSOP Europe title.

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WSOP Main Event = White Magic Time!

Date: 2013.07.09 | Category: Poker | By: Phil Hellmuth   

The 2013 World Series of Poker has been a challenging one for me.  Near misses, busts, and late starts have all added up to more than one disappointing finish.  But I’m ready to MAN UP and head in to this year’s Main Event feeling strong!!  I’m on the hunt for my 100th WSOP cash finish, not to mention bracelet #14!  My dream is to score big here and make a deep run toward the final table, and I’m planning to do so with what I like to call “White Magic”…

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DUNK TANK

Date: 2013.07.08 | Category: Philanthropy | By: Phil Hellmuth   

Check out this video (courtesy of Bluff Magazine) of me going down in a dunk tank!  All for charity – the tank (at this year’s WSOP) was sponsored by One Drop, a non-profit organization that strives to ensure clean water is accessible to all.  One Drop is an official partner of the WSOP and their goal is to raise $1,111,111 by challenging players to donate 1% of their winnings.

Great cause!!  Check them out here: One Drop