New Book, New Challenges for Poker Brat Phil Helmuth

Already a world champion, 14-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, Poker Hall of Fame inductee and New York Times bestselling author, these days, Phil Hellmuth Jr. is taking on a new challenge: Autobiographer.

An experienced writer, having penned hundreds of hand of the week articles over a decade as a syndicated columnist and several instructional poker books, including the New York Times bestseller Play Poker Like The Pros, Hellmuth is no stranger to the process. Only this time, it’s a little more personal.

“This new book is about how I rose above some hard times in my life,” Hellmuth explained while taking a break from finishing the tentatively titled Poker Brat at his Palo Alto, California home. “I really struggled in high school. I felt like a big-time high school loser. I struggled with my social life, grades, everything. I was way too immature. I had warts on both hands, the outside of my hands, and it felt almost like an affliction.”

But things didn’t automatically get better for Hellmuth.

“After two years they magically disappeared and then the acne came,” he said. “When the warts went away, the zits came. I really struggled socially in high school. When you have these kinds of things, you don’t feel good about yourself. This book is about how I made the transition from a high school loser with low self esteem to a world champion of poker at 24. It’s about the development of the Poker Brat, how I came from struggling so much with ego to finding great success.”

The theme sounds almost motivational, but Hellmuth says that’s actually the plan for the book after this one.

“My next book will be about positivity and how to achieve great things in life,” he said. “I don’t think a lot of the people that write motivational books are people who have actually done a lot of great things. At least I’ve done some cool things and I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences and the thought process that led me to do these things. Poker Brat is the inspirational story behind it all and my next book will talk about a lot of the tools I used to become the person I am, the tips and tricks.”

Hellmuth actually wrote the first 70,000 words of Poker Brat in 2010 and was planning on getting it published in 2011. That’s when Black Friday hit, the bottom fell out of the poker industry, and even though publisher HarperCollins had such great success with Hellmuth’s 2004 Play Poker Like The Pros, it suddenly wanted no part in anything poker related.

He sat on the almost-completed manuscript until D&B Publishing owner Dan Addelman came sniffing around this year and Hellmuth agreed to add a few chapters on the end and get it ready for publication in early 2017.

“I wrote the book up to 1993,” Hellmuth said. “Right now I’m still stuck in 1993 and editing the 70,000 words I’ve already written. It’s taking some time to get back to 1993, and at that point, I’ll have to decide what I want to talk about. I think I want to add about 20,000 words before we sell the book.”

According to Hellmuth, those 20,000 words may contain some insight as to how he’s been able to maintain his level of play, even as the game has changed.

“That’s something I’m definitely thinking of having in there: How to maintain your level of play and stay a champion,” he said. “All the work and effort it takes to continue to be one of the greatest poker players in the world. To be considered the top, or right near it, means listening to all the theories other great players have and seeing the different tactics they employ. “

Maintaining the title of champion means understanding and opposing …

continue reading in source www.pokernews.com