The 2008 WSOP has thus far been the Year of the Pro and we've seen players like Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu and Layne Flack all add to their bracelet count.

There has been one glaring omission from the ranks of players making headlines, however, and it's a player who has been the center of attention for the last several years of the WSOP.

I'm talking, of course, about the one and only Poker Brat - Phil Hellmuth.

Despite making one final table and adding a couple cashes (he still holds the record for most cashes, incidentally), Hellmuth has never been in serious contention to win a 12th bracelet.

Hellmuth got to the final table of the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event as the short stack after rebuying enough times to make the average player's head spin.

The always-subtle Phil Hellmuth.

It's a strange change of pace considering Hellmuth has either been matching WSOP bracelet records or breaking them since 2006.

Hellmuth's antics used to make the front pages of poker magazines simply because his results were without question. The biggest stories were what costume Hellmuth was wearing to the Main Event (racecar driver last year) or which player made him throw a tantrum.

You have to go all the way back to 2005 to find the last time Hellmuth has done a WSOP without winning a bracelet.

Why hasn't Hellmuth won a bracelet yet this year? Some say the WSOP's new focus on slightly less popular games like Pot-Limit Omaha (unless you're European) and Stud/Hi-Lo/Lowball events have hurt the Poker Brat's chances, but one has to remember that winning a bracelet is no easy task.

Hellmuth once told me he has plans to win 20+ bracelets but after this year he might want to reconsider that number.

Players like Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan have gone more than three years without a bracelet and it's not uncommon for players of their caliber to go five-plus years without a bracelet.

It seems that No. 12 may come later rather than sooner.

The sudden lack of bracelets has many poker pundits wondering what is reasonable to expect from a top-tier poker player. Hellmuth seems safe considering he currently holds the world record for WSOP bracelets, but what would happen if he didn't win another major tournament for the next 10 years?

It's a fear that must be in the back of all tournament players' heads but it's safe to say that if you haven't won a major tournament in a few years people will start to forget about all your achievements.

Because Hellmuth has 11 bracelets and both Chan and Brunson have 10, some people start to forget how hard it is to actually win these events. Getting by 2,000+ players, not matter how bad they are, can be a daunting task for any player, no matter the skill level.

Both Erick Lindgren and David Singer can attest to how much commitment it takes to strike WSOP gold. Lindgren had to wait close to 10 years of professional poker to take home his first bracelet while Singer went closer to 20 years without a bracelet.

With close to 40 events out of the way one has to wonder if we're going to hear much out of Hellmuth this year. Perhaps this will be the first year where the antics of the "Poker Brat" don't make the front page of every poker magazine in America.

Maybe that's not such a bad thing.