It all started to go right for Phil Hellmuth three weeks ago Sunday, when he gave his buddy Tim Molyneux $50,000 to help with expenses for Molyneux's new production, "All In: The Poker Musical."

Hellmuth, the Madison native and poker superstar, had up until that moment been having a poor 2008 World Series of Poker, which is a month-long series of more than 50 poker tournaments in Las Vegas, culminating in the Main Event, which has a top prize exceeding $9 million.

Hellmuth, a Madison West graduate, won the Main Event in 1989. At 24, he was the youngest winner ever, and Hellmuth quickly established a reputation as the game's bad boy, a poker brat whom many suspected had more mouth than talent. Sage veterans predicted Hellmuth would soon flame out. In 20 years, they said, nobody would remember his name.

It hasn't quite turned out that way. Two decades later, Hellmuth has not only endured, he has triumphed, both at the poker table and beyond. He holds the all-time record for most World Series bracelets, given to the winners of all World Series events. Hellmuth has 11, and he has parlayed those wins and his outsized and occasionally outrageous personality into a multi-million dollar franchise that includes books, movies, a retail clothing line, the new musical and an endorsement deal with Milwaukee's Best Light, the official beer of the World Series of Poker.

"My face is on 12 million beer cans," Hellmuth said.

The World Series, however, is poker's Super Bowl, and as the month of June rolled on it appeared 2008 would not make it onto Hellmuth's highlight reel. There had been no bracelets, not even a final table.

"It was looking like a failure," Hellmuth said.

Sunday, June 30, Hellmuth was entered in the Series' 51st event, a three-day, $1,500 buy-in at the Rio All-Suite Casino Hotel in Vegas.

In the hours before the start of the event, Hellmuth made the call to give the $50,000 to Molyneux for "All In: The Poker Musical." Phil's investment advisers had always cleared their throats and studied their shoes when he mentioned the musical.

But Hellmuth likes the concept, which sets the musical at the final table of the World Series Main Event and contains nine characters, one of whom would appear to greatly resemble Phil Hellmuth. (Later, at a preview for the show, Phil with typical understatement said he expects the musical will still be running "40 or 50 years from now.")

That Sunday, Hellmuth put in the money -- "no strings attached, " he said -- and then Molyneux walked with him to the table where event 51 would commence.

There must have been abundant good karma, because once the cards were dealt, Hellmuth was untouchable.

"I was winning every hand," he said.

By night's end, Hellmuth had the chip lead in the tournament, which with 803 players was one of the largest mixed-game (more than one kind of poker) tournaments in history.

When Phil was still leading after the second night, his parents, Phil Sr. and Lynn -- who still live in Madison -- caught a plane for Nevada. Other relatives and friends also found their way to Vegas. It looked like Hellmuth might win a historic 12th bracelet, breaking his own record.

In the end, he finished third. His disappointment was eased by the knowledge he had increased his record number of World Series final tables to 41, and his Series earnings to $8.4 million, also a record.

The crew filming "Quest for Twelve," a documentary on Hellmuth's run at another bracelet, will have to wait for its final scene. The thing is, with Hellmuth, the wait doesn't contain many dull moments. The crew was in Milwaukee in May when the first beer cans bearing Hellmuth's likeness rolled off the line at Miller.

They were also there on July 6, just a few days after his third-place finish, when Hellmuth made a truly memorable entrance at this year's World Series Main Event. He arrived at the Rio in an Army truck with 11 young women dressed in Army fatigues. Hellmuth was "decked out like George S. Patton," according to an account in an online poker magazine, which also noted that while Patton had only four stars on his uniform, Hellmuth had 11 -- one for each bracelet.

Hellmuth backed up his bold entrance with solid play in the Main Event, which featured a staggering 6,844 players in the field. Hellmuth lasted several days and wound up 45th, the highest finish by a past champion, earning $154,400.

When we spoke, Phil said, "It would have been worth $50 million for me to make the final table. "

Still, he was philosophical. The World Series of Poker has sanctioned four "bracelet" events in London starting Sept. 19. The documentary crew has been alerted.

"For a kid from Madison," Hellmuth said, "it has been quite a ride."

Contact Doug Moe at 608-252-6446 or dmoe@madison.com.