I missed the WSOP on ESPN last week, so I caught up this morning when it was rebroadcast on ESPN2.The 1989 WSOP Champion Phil Hellmuth was at their featured table. Phil is easily one of the greatest players in the world: he rarely puts many of his chips at risk unless he's certain that he's getting the best of it, and his ability to correctly read his opponents is second to none.
Unfortunately, Phil is keenly aware of how talented he is, and he regularly crosses the line from confident to arrogant. Anyone who watches poker regularly on TV has seen Phil freak out when he takes a bad beat (he once famously kicked a door right off its hinges at a tournament here in Los Angeles) and I've even seen him call a lucky player a JOPKE. It's always amusing to watch a grown man pitch a temper tantrum, and I usually just shake my head and giggle . . . but today was the first time I've ever thought to myself, "Gee, that Phil Hellmuth is a real jerk."
I tuned in a bit late, just in time to see Phil raise from early position with pocket threes. He was called by one player who had AK. A king hit the flop, so Phil slowed down. He never improved his hand, and with an underpair to the board, he eventually folded to a bet on the river. It was a great play from Phil, who even said, "I think you got lucky with ace king," as he showed his cards to his opponent (who was one seat to Phil's left.)
Another player at the table asked the dealer to see Phil's cards, a perfectly reasonable request, and well within the "show one, show all" rules.
The dealer turned Phil's cards up to the other players, and started the wash.
Phil said, "Who wanted to see my cards?"
The dealer pointed to the 5 or 6 seat, and started the shuffle.
Phil's voice took on this incredibly condescending tone and he said, "You know, it's very bad etiquette to ask to see another players cards."
Excuse me? Phil Hellmuth is going to give lectures on etiquette? What's next? Mike Matusow or Josh Arieh on manners? How about Scotty Nguyen on hairstyles?
Another pro, whose name I missed, reminded Phil of the show one, show all rule, and Phil snapped back, "Oh, you ask the other top ten players in the world what they think about that."
Then he looked down at his cards, and told the the player who made a tough-but-good call with TPTK against raises all the way down, "You just keep trying to give me all r chips."
Riiight. Calling a small raise with position, then making a hand with ace king with no straight or flush out and betting for value is a great way to give someone all your chips.
Shortly after that, they showed another hand where he got in with marginal cards, lost, and went on to seriously insult and berate the guy who beat him. He did it again, and again, until I just couldn't take it any more, and changed the channel.
You know, Phil, it's one thing entirely to be confident to the point of arrogance. I bet that even helps a little bit at the poker table. But it's another thing entirely to be arrogant to the point of just being an asshole. Especially when you're a champion player, and an ambassador for the game.
I hear that Phil is a good guy away from the table. I also salute and respect him for hosting several charity tournaments for all sorts of causes. I know that ESPN can selectively edit things, but this behavior certainly fits a pattern. I know that he's got this image as The Poker Brat, and he's probably getting (bad) advice to play up that image, but these outbursts are just not good for the game. These players all worked hard to make it into the WSOP, and there is just no reason to treat them badly because Phil lost a hand to them. I sure hope he eventually apologized to that table.
Earlier this month, at the UltimateBet.com WPT event in Aruba, Phil threw such an epic tantrum he wrote a column about it where he promised to change his ways. In Phil's words:
"OK, Phil, no more sour grapes!
You're in the penthouse suite at the Radisson in beautiful Aruba. All your media, including your books tips calendar, are flying off the shelves. You have nine World Series of Poker (WSOP) titles.
Why, then, do you have to act like a jerk after taking a bad beat? Why leap out of your chair, with your arms flailing, and utter, 'What the [expletive] is going on here?' And then ask your opponent, 'How could you have played this hand so poorly?'
Once more, I'm embarrassed by my own conduct, the more so as this is the UltimateBet.com World Poker Tour (UB-WPT) event in Aruba, and I'm a UB ambassador."
I sure hope you mean it, Phil, because tantrums are embarrassing, but berating other players is inexcusable. I'd expect that from Poker_Joker420 online, not from the owner of nine World Series bracelets. Your conduct reflects poorly on you, on the people who pay your expenses so you can play in these tournaments, and especially on UltimateBet.com. It is an insult to the people who have bought your books and DVDs, your bobble heads or your limited edition chipsets. Like it or not, people look up to you, Phil. You've got a life any of us would dream to have . . . why don't you start acting like it?
Now, I have tremendous respect for Phil Hellmuth as a player. He is clearly one of the best in the world, and he deserves every bracelet he's won. But that doesn't justify his constant rude and disrespectful treatment at the table. Until Phil stops throwing tantrums and shows some respect for his opponents and the game itself, he'll never be in the same class as guys like Doyle Brunson and Greg Raymer. I don't care how many bracelets he has.
1. Phil is simply a poor looser, he does not think that anyone can play better than himself. I agree with a lot that has been said about Phil being a good player, but it takes a well rounded player to be a great player. I think that poker is 80 percent luck of the draw and 20 percent knowing what to do with the cards afterward. Anyone can get lucky on the flop, the turn and the river, how many hands have you seen beat with the turn of the river card - many. Phil needs to understand that not everyone is as great as he thinks that he is, but everyone gets lucky now and then - that's poker.
Posted at 4:53PM on Nov 2nd 2005 by Derrick McCollum