Within the tremendously competitive upper ranks of the professional poker circuit, there are a few names that have special significance. Without question, the name of Phil Hellmuth, Jr. deserves a firmly established place within that very elite listing.

This true champion was born in 1964 in a Madison, Wisconsin. From a very early age, Paul Hellmuth displayed a highly advanced sense of poker knowledge, on numerous occasions defeating older and more experienced poker players with an almost a supernatural level of ease and competence.

It was in the year 1989 that Phil Hellmuth, Jr. shocked the world. Against all expectations, he defeated Johnny Chan in the main event at the World Series of Poker and in so doing became the youngest world champion of poker (beating the record held by Stu Ungar.) He was just 24 years old at the time. To this day, many of the most experienced poker commentators and historians consider Hellmuth's stunning victory to be one of the most outstanding moments in the World Series of Poker.

And yet, just a few years before that momentous occasion, it would have been virtually impossible to predict the level to which Phil Hellmuth would rise. As a student at the University of Wisconsin, Hellmuth did not perform spectacularly within the classroom. This was probably because most of his attention was diverted to playing poker. When he appeared on the professional circuit, he was often referred to as the "poker brat" not only due to his youth, but also his attitude which a number of older players found to be totally obnoxious.