BY TOM SOMACH

Commenting on his website for the first time since he crashed a car in Las Vegas Sunday and then crashed and burned in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event, Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth Jr. says he’s “out of control.”

He also admits he was speeding during the accident, and wasn’t wearing a helmet or seat belt.

In addition, he says the whiplash injury he suffered in the accident, which occurred when he crashed a race car in the parking lot of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, is worse than he originally thought.

“The accident seems like a wakeup call,” Hellmuth writes on his blog at www.philhellmuth.com.

He continues: “I mean, I was driving too fast, I was out of control, I was pushing the limits, I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and I didn’t even have a helmet on!!=A0I will be careful around cars, in cars, and with cars, the rest of my life.=A0The bigger metaphor is this: I’m a bit out of control myself.”

And his medical condition?

Hellmuth writes: “My neck and upper back are worse now.=A0They ache more, I ice more (even as I write this), and take more Advil.=A0I was hoping that I dodged the whole sore neck and back thing, but now I’m hoping for a full recovery within a week. I’m not in constant pain, and I sleep fine, but I hated it when my neck, which had been throbbing on the right side, suddenly switched to the left side.=A0I know that I’m actually lucky to have these minor injuries, I mean, it could have been much, much worse.”

Hellmuth, who won his 11th career WSOP championship gold bracelet at an eary WSOP event this year, entered the 2007 WSOP main event on the last possible day, and lasted just a few hours before losing all his chips.

Nevertheless, he is now the all-time career leader in WSOP bracelets won–one more than Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson or Johnny “The Orient Express” Chan, who each have 10 bracelets.

So what’s next for the native of Madison, Wisc., USA?

He CAN go home again, as he writes on his blog: “We do have a two-week-long Wisconsin trip planned in late July.”

Hopefully for the Hellmuth family, Phil won’t be driving them there.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)