Phil Hellmuth Signs Partnership With Octopi Poker

Pro poker player Phil Hellmuth is no stranger to paid-for endorsements having previously promoted a diverse array of products, like Milwaukee Best Light beer, fast-food hamburgers, and controversial crypto-currency Bitcoin Latinum. But the “Poker Brat’s” latest partnership indicates he might be tired of such fripperies and is instead happy to refocus on the game that made him famous. The 17-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner is now working with poker training site Octopi Poker.

More About Octopi Poker

Octopi Poker uses AI- and cloud-driven technologies to help customers improve their poker games. There are a few tiers of membership with additional functionality unlocked at the higher tiers. Among the features are a GTO trainer, tournament drills, hand upload and analysis, and major live final tables recorded for viewing.

Octopi Poker Home Page

Even without a paid membership, users can access the Octopi Poker community. This includes weekly coaching sessions, a Discord channel, and several simple tools.

Octopi Poker started as a collaboration between poker players Nick Schulman, Phil Shing, Andrew Lichtenberger and tech entrepreneur Victoria Livschitz. Since then, the team has seen changes, such as the addition of Stephen Chidwick. Some of the players involved with Octopi Poker, like Chidwick, Brian Hastings, and Maria Ho, offer paid coaching through the platform too.

Phil Hellmuth Bio

Phil Hellmuth, born in 1964 in Madison, Wisconsin, prefigured the “Poker Boom” era of poker pros by dropping out of university to pursue a poker career. However, he did it before almost everyone else all the way back in 1985. Just four years later, he became the youngest player to win the World Series of Poker Main Event at age 24 although this record was eventually beaten by Peter Eastgate (22) in 2008.

This first gold bracelet was just a portent of things to come. Indeed, Phil has since picked up an amazing 16 further WSOP bracelets. His total of 17 is higher by six than his nearest competitor, Phil Ivey. Hellmuth has accumulated more than $30 million in tourney winnings during his poker career.

As impressive as his results at the tables have been, it can be argued that Phil is more famous for his antics and demeanor rather than his play. He has been nicknamed the “Poker Brat” for his incessant whining and complaining about bad beats, coolers, and the other ups and downs of the game. In one famous incident, Hellmuth called his opponent “idiot from Northern Europe” after Phil’s bluff failed to get that individual to fold.

Phil is also known to attract a lot of attention to himself for publicity. He has dressed as the Greek God Poseidon for his arrival at the World Series of Poker Paradise event in the Bahamas. Another time, he arrived at the casino in a race car, but he crashed the car into a light fixture in the parking lot.

Phil Hellmuth at the 2023 WSOP Paradise Event

Phil and Octopi an Unlikely Match?

Phil’s style of play, which he calls “White Magic,” is heavily exploitative and relies upon realizing highly specific and intuitive reads on opponents. This often results in Phil making incredible folds or calls that are contraindicated by more conventional strategies. Hellmuth often refers to making bold plays that ultimately turn out to save him a lot of chips as “dodging bullets.”

Phil Hellmuth

It may seem a bit unusual that such a “feel-based” player would partner with a training site that’s all about game theory and exact solver math. Maybe Phil recognizes that this aspect of poker is something that doesn’t come naturally to him and is an area that he needs to work on.

Phil Posts Video

On April 27, Phil Hellmuth posted to X about the deal with Octopi Poker. He released a video showing why he likes the site. In the video, Phil discusses the site with his sons, Nick and Philip, who are also poker players and have both, alongside their father, signed up to partner with Octopi as well.

Hellmuth seems especially taken by the Vault: a feature of Octopi Poker that lets you replay historical tournament poker hands. You can step through every decision and see what the solver’s recommended action is for every player at each point in the hand.

Octopi Poker, for its part, also commented on the deal, saying that Phil has joined the team “as an investor and ambassador.” In an X post, Octopi Poker elaborated, “Phil’s experience across multiple eras gives him a rare perspective on what players at every level need to improve. We’re excited to work with him as we build products for the widest possible range of poker players.”

What the Hell Is an Octopi Anyway?

We at Professional Rakeback are nothing if not thorough, and we kept wondering what the hell “Octopi” means. We vaguely had an idea that it was a kind of unusual plural of octopus, and a quick Google search revealed that we were correct in our assumption. “Octopi” is a common but nonstandard plural for “octopus.” However, the preferred plural form in English is “octopuses.” “Octopodes” is an acceptable, though rare, alternate.

This did not completely satisfy our curiosity however. We were left wondering what octopi have to do with poker. We put on our thinking caps for an impromptu brainstorming session and noted down what we came up with. We therefore present to you below the top 10 ways in which serious poker players are like octopi:

• They are experts at managing multiple hands at once
• They are undoubtedly intelligent, but this intelligence often manifests in peculiar ways
• Many of them are predators that hunt fish
• They use deceit to confuse their own predators
• Most of the body is made of soft tissue
• Their pulpy, clammy skin often repulses others
• They tend to be solitary creatures
• Their lairs are often surrounded by discarded and old pieces of food
• They’re known to employ tools to enhance their abilities
• They’re primarily nocturnal but sometimes search for prey during the day

Play Online and Record Your Hands

Though many of Octopi Poker’s resources are equally applicable to live poker, some of them, like uploading your hands for further study, are geared toward online play. Whether or not you ultimately decide to avail yourself of Octopi Poker’s services, you can certainly satisfy your desire to play poker through online sites.

We believe that the best internet cardroom for most American and Australian players is Ignition Casino Poker. When you sign up for a new account, you’ll qualify for a 150% up to $1,500 poker bonus on your initial deposit. You’ll also get a similar bonus to use on casino games. Press the button below to continue:

You can learn more about Ignition before signing up by heading over to this comprehensive Ignition Poker review. For additional insights into online poker for Americans, check out this USA offshore poker guide.

May 1, 2026 – by Max Golden, Editor-in-Chief