Simply red, lots of cred

Dennis Phillips isn't a poker circuit regular and he doesn't own a World Series of Poker individual event champion bracelet.

Yet, to the legions of poker fans who crowded the Rio's convention pavilion over the past six weeks to watch the 2009 World Series of Poker, Phillips is a hero.

Last year, Phillips, an account manager for a commercial trucking company in St. Louis, finished third in the $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold 'em world championship event and took home more than $4.5 million.

Phillips wore a red replica St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap adorned with the signatures of poker professionals. He also wore his trucking company work shirt, adorned with sponsor logos.

He also won the admiration of a loyal following.

When he entered the Rio for the final table last November, more than 400 family members, friends and supporters from the St. Louis area, all dressed in Cardinals caps and white work shirts, packed the upper levels of the Rio's Penn and Teller Theater.

"He's the everyman," ESPN poker analyst Norm Chad said Tuesday. "He cuts a certain figure at the table. He's an amateur, but he looks like he belongs here."

On Tuesday, when day six of the 2009 main event began, Phillips, 54, was back at the Rio, albeit, in a different St. Louis Cardinals cap. Last year's model is home in St. Louis.

"You wouldn't want to wear that one," Phillips said. "It got pretty sweaty."

He entered the day in 43rd place out of the event's remaining 64 players. However, Phillips busted out in 45th place shortly before 5 p.m., earning $178,857.

Chad said you would need a calculator to figure the odds of Phillips reaching the final days of the main event, let alone the final table, two years in a row.

"Do the math," Chad said. "The improbability is simply astronomical."

The field for this year's main event was 6,494. In 2008, the field was 6,844.

Phillips lasted longer in this year's main event than the 2008 champion, Peter Eastgate, who went out in 78th place late Monday.

The experience from a year ago, Phillips said, helped him stretch out his success.

"I'm much more comfortable," he said. "I know the setup and the dealers and tables. It also helps when you've played against the top players in the world. I'm extremely pleased. Nobody expected us to make it this far."

A year ago, Phillips entered day six at the top of the leader board. He was the chip leader going into the final table of nine last year, but was eliminated by Eastgate.

Playing somewhat short-stacked on day six this year has forced him to change his game.

"It's a little different, but there's no downside," Phillips said.

Before play Tuesday, Phillips was stopped several times in Rio's hallway to pose for photos or sign autographs for poker fans. In a way, he's become a poker ambassador.

Chad likened Phillips to 2004 World Series of Poker champion Chris Moneymaker, an unknown Tennessee accountant who won the main event and was credited for fueling a nationwide interest in poker.

"Dennis has met the expectations that Chris hasn't met," Chad said. "He's gotten back here and while his poker maybe isn't as good as the next person, he gives the impression that he belongs here."

The World Series of Poker main event field was expected to be sliced to 27 sometime Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, the 27-player field will be cut to the final table of nine. Those players will return to the Rio in November to play for the championship. The winner will take home almost $8.55 million.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.