Count Phil Hellmuth among those who believe that online poker legislation will pass in the United States. And he is perhaps more optimistic than anyone in the industry about such legislation getting passed.

He made the following comment to host Mark Hoke on Short Stacked Radio last week (via PokerNews):

“I wouldn’t be surprised if online poker were passed in the next five days,” Hellmuth said in the interview. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it passed before Feb. 1 ... I think there’s going to be the biggest explosion in poker history the minute [online poker] is legalized.”