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• WSOP H.O.R.S.E. on ESPN Starring Phil Hellmuth’s Behavior - Part Two

Your ‘Dead Money’ blogger is continuing yesterday’s post regarding ‘The Poker Brats’ behavior at the WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Tournament. Today’s post details ESPN’s 2nd hour of the broadcast. If you didn’t read yesterday’s post the underlying opinion I put forth is that ESPN got off track and chose to show too much bad behavior instead of good poker. ESPN had the chance to show great poker in 5 different games but instead highlighted Hellmuth’s Tableside manner at every opportunity. Here are the behavior items ESPN edited into the one hour show:

• Just seven minutes into the broadcast ESPN analyst Norman Chad gets a little dig in on Phil while talking about Eli Elezra and Barry Greenstein being part of the ‘Big Game’ he says ‘Hellmuth is not part of the Big Game he is part of the Big Ego, the Big Game players don’t have a whole lot of respect for Phil Hellmuth’. Chad goes on to say ‘the Big Game keeps a light on for Phil anytime’.
• 13 Minutes in while playing Hold ‘Em Phil says ‘raise it up boys’. Chad once again gives the needle to Hellmuth by saying ‘it definitely bothers Phil that he hasn’t won a bracelet outside of Hold ‘Em and he doesn’t have the respect of the Big Game players. When Barry Greenstein hits a flush and beats Phil, the talking starts from Phil: ‘I haven’t won one Hold ‘Em pot just cause I checked top pair and then he hits the miracle heart again. Its just sick, nice hand Barry’.
• Then ESPN goes to a taped sit down discussion with Phil and he lets all of us know how good he is when he says things like:
  • A lot of the Great Players underestimate my H.O.R.S.E skills, they say oh Phil just plays Hold ‘Em, but
  • I can play all of the games close to perfect
  • Am I a world class stud player? sure.
  • Omaha 8 or better there’s only probably 4 or 5 that are better than me
  • Razz I just absolutely world class top of the game
  • Hold ‘Em obviously I am at the absolute top of the world
  • They can’t attack my integrity and honor cause that’s perfect
  • They can’t attack my Hold ‘Em cause thats perfect
  • There’s not much left to attack
  • Oh they can always attack my ‘Poker Brat’ behavior
• Phil is back and saying: ‘Barry has beaten me every hand in Hold ‘Em but just wait till it turns around I am going to barbecue him’ then when he loses a hand to another opponent he says ‘the best Hold ‘Em player in the world by far and the guys just beat me and beat me, I won two antes and a tiny pot it is just sick’.
• 35 minutes into the ESPN show and Hellmuth is show standing by himself and talking to nobody and saying ’such an effing joke, these are supposed to be great players? they don’t know anything about Hold ‘Em, so sick, I want to throw up when I watch these people play Hold ‘Em, supposed to be great players, they suck’.
• Forty minutes in and Hellmuth is playing Omaha 8 or better and Phil gets scooped by an opponent when Phil doesn’t have a very good hand. The opponent gets Phil to stop chattering by saying he can overcome the beat he just took. The very next hand that ESPN shows, Phil starts by saying ‘might be a little steam on this one boys’ and Phil doesn’t hit his low hand and for the only time I can remember Phil has nothing to say.
• At last the final opportunity to witness Phil Hellmuth’s Tableside manner at the WSOP this year, unless you watch the encore showings. Phil is All-In playing RAZZ and Phil is beat easily. Phil leaves the table with this parting shot for all: ’so brutal, I am the best player at that table in every game, that’s whats brutal, I got a good table draw and never won a chip’

Another item that I found ironic is: Many times Phil’s commercial for WSOP the video game was shown during the two hours of ESPN coverage. Phil is shown with a black eye and saying the some of the players are taking the ‘Beat the Brat’ theme too far. I mentioned to my sons during the broadcast with all the years that Phil has played and had his Tableside manner that he is probably fortunate nobody has popped him.

I know that it is all an act to get the other players off their game and not play their best. Also to get Phil some more TV time, but it has no place in Poker in my humble opinion. More and more players try and use the same behavior either online or at live games. Probably ESPN contributes to this with all the coverage they give to Hellmuth and others like Mike Matusow. Please stop ESPN.

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

WSOP, WSOP H.O.R.S.E, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow,  Barry Greenstein, Norman Chad, ESPN,

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