LAS VEGAS — A part time poker player who finished seventh in the World Series of Poker main event in 2000 has hired 11-time gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth as his coach for this year's final table.

Officials for Card Player Media, where Jeff Shulman is president, said Thursday that the main event champ from 1989 would train Shulman for the finale of the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament.

Nine players who bested 6,485 other players plan to play starting Nov. 7 for a top prize of more than $8.55 million. The other players were eliminated in July.

Shulman has cashed in 15 prior series tournaments for $289,551.

His November opponents include a self-employed logger with a dominant chip lead and Phil Ivey, widely considered the best cardplayer right now.