Phil – is brat really the way to go?

Written by MarkBonington Monday, 20 June 2011 18:09

Editorials - Poker Editorials

Unlike many (probably most) of the poker fans I know, I am a Phil Hellmuth fan. As a player and a businessman, it is hard to argue with results. And if Hellmuth has one thing to his name, it is results. People may despise his style, his teachings, his persona, but 11 World Series bracelets do not just arrange themselves in someone's pocket. Neither does $11 million in winnings for that matter. Hellmuth knows his game, and he knows it well.

And he almost turned his record 11 WSOP bracelets into 12 this season. Saturday night, June 12, in the Amazon Room of the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Hellmuth eliminated Richard Ashby to third place of Event #16 of the the WSOP - the $10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship No-Limit, leaving only himself and John Juanda to battle it out. They went head to head for the next three hours, with Juanda climbing from the short stacked 800,000 to Hellmuth's 2.9 million to the event's overall winner. Hellmuth's cocky smile was wiped off his face as he tweeted in the early hours of Sunday morning:

Strange thing: I finished in second place & won $270,000, but I feel completely awful + i am inconsolable...Congrats 2 the great @luckboxjuanda

Even without the many years backlog of 'Poker Brat' attitude which has made him infamous, that statement alone would be enough to justify the hubris of his loss. As it is, this may just be the juxtaposition to years of berating and, frankly, insulting a great many players across the poker tables of the world. If the final statement were not dripping with the Sartrean sarcasm so typical of Hellmuth, he might have redeemed himself a little. Alas, he does not.

Perhaps it is an inevitable side effect of an adult life spent learning opera that has made me immune to the quintessential egotistical diva. In fact, many of the people I most admire are just that. Probably the same reason my favourite poker player is the wonderful Ms Liz Lieu (aka the “Poker Diva”). Probably the same reason I admire Hellmuth. However, I think there's a point where harmless self indulgence falls dangerously close to full blown drama-queenism.

Rather than offer a genuine congratulations to what looks to be the start of a great career for Mr. Juanda, Hellmuth has chosen to sulk; living up royally to his self-appointed nickname. In his own words, he is 'inconsolable' at taking second place – an odd attitude for any poker player. He is either poker's biggest humorist, or really is the 'Poker Brat' he named himself to be. He also seems curiously blasé about winnings which total more than ¼ of a million dollars. A 'strange thing' indeed, especially given that money is usually never far from a poker player's mind. Perhaps it is all part of the self-spun enigma that is Phil Hellmuth Jr.

Regardless, in opera the days if the diva are long gone. And I can't help but think the same may be true of Hellmuth and his Poker Brat ego.

Come on Phil, man up.

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