Just Poker Talk

• Phil Hellmuth tableside manners are on display on ESPN

Did you see the ESPN broadcast of the attempt by Phil Hellmuth to capture a 12 WSOP bracelet on Tuesday? ESPN devoted both hours of their WSOP broadcast to this event. The event was a NLHE $3000 buy in that Hellmuth made the final table. Hellmuth did not win his 12th bracelet so his atrocious tableside manner was on display throughout the 90 minutes that he survived during the broadcast.  

In case you didn’t see it, here are some of the ‘Highlights’.

• Complaining that other Players didn’t respect him. Saying things like ‘Everytime I put in a raise these dummies come over the top’.  ‘I am the greatest NLHE player in the world and I can’t get any respect’
• Tell other players he was going to bust them for sure. Just in case you didn’t know he is Phil Hellmuth the greatest NLHE player in the world. Phil didn’t bust the players that he told this to. He said this multiple times to two specific players that he felt they didn’t know how to play NLHE.
• Whine constantly that everytime he had a raising hand players would raise him, he had trouble with 2 players in particular. In watching what ESPN showed these players never raised him just trying to steal, they always had very good or even premium hands.
• He survived at least 6 occasions when he was All-In but, he lost at least $100,000 in cash to Phil Ivey. Ivey gave Hellmuth ‘insurance’, at appropriate odds based on the hands, each time Hellmuth was All-In. When Hellmuth won the hand he would lose cash to Ivey. Each time he was All-In it seemed that all would have to wait for Hellmuth and Ivey to figure out the odds and agree on the insurance bet before the dealer could continue with dealing the community cards. ESPN seemed to love this.
• Telling all that would listen that the world doesn’t know how good he is. 
• When his final all in was called by a big stack player and Phil had a weak Ace, he said for all to hear that he couldn’t believe that she called a big raise with KQ suited. He went on to say how he couldn’t believe how bad the players at the final table were.
• He had many other critical comments for all the players. Just too numerous to recount all of them in this post.

Of course all of this stuff is part of Phil’s act. One of the other pros at the table was quoted on the broadcast saying something like: Phil is great at taking advantage of weak players. Phil’s comments get inside their heads and he just runs them over. Also, that stuff doesn’t work against the experienced pros who basically just ignore it.

ESPN analyst Norman Chad took every opportunity to point out Phil’s Tableside manner. He even said the event was like a 3 ring circus with Phil being 2 of the rings. He also said he would rather watch Phil at a final table then anything else Vegas had. 

Your ‘Dead Money’ blogger in an earlier post gave Phil credit for being one of the all time great Poker players, but his Tableside manner does him no favors with anyone that actually ranks the all time greats. His Tableside manner will hold him back from ever being ranked the greatest of all time in my humble opinion. Also in this post I discussed how Phil seems to be all about the ‘Show’ and this ESPN broadcast just make me think that even more. I don’t think it would be fun for me to be at Phil’s table, of course being ‘Dead Money’, I don’t ever expect to be seated with him, thankfully.

Feel free to add any Poker related comments, they are welcome always.

Phil Hellmuth, WSOP, NLHE, ESPN, Norm Chad 

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