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Phil Hellmuth's Column

(3 posts)
  • Started 7 months ago by Edward Bosley III
  • Latest reply from Scott Bethel

  1. Edward Bosley III
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    Call me a hater. Get it out of your system now. Feel Better. I will support the PPA's agenda and have written and called my elected officials before, but I will not join any organization that associates with Phil Hellmuth. I and EVERY single person I play with either does not like him, or like me, downright despises, loathes and hates him. I capitalized every because it is not an exaggeration and I play with lots of people.

    He is a thousand times worse for the game than Jaime Gold, Mike Matsow or any socially inept kid new to live poker will ever be, mainly because he remains so visible. Is he a good hold'em player? Definitely. Is he a good man away from the tables? Probably. I know the "Poker Brat", for the most part, is just a gimmick, but it has to stop for the sake of the game. People who only have a cursory exposure to the game may see him and say "Poker players are douches. Why should I care about their interests?" The media needs to stop glorifying such bad behavior even if it is fake and I don't believe all of the bad beat rants are fake.

    It has long been played out, Phil. Grow up and move on to a new gimmick. How about "Cuddly Phil?" You could say you have been trying a new therapy with your psychiatrist wife and it changed your life. You will now say "nice hand" with a smile on your face because you now realize that the the old saying is true. "Don't tap the fish tank. You'll just scare the fish away." You could wear flowers in your hair and delete the Jay-Z from the mp3 player in favor of the Mamas and the Papas.

    On second thought, a leopard can't change its spots. Keep acting like an @ss and doing more harm to the game you love.

    Let the fanboy defense begin.

    Posted 7 months ago #
  2. I haven't watched poker on TV in quite some time, but I was under the impression that his blowups were much more under control. However, his most outrageous come nowhere near a Matusow or Tony G blowup, or any of hundreds of people that you'll see in any poker room.

    Anyone and everyone is allowed to join the PPA - you, me, Hellmuth, Tony G, the 21 year old kid down the road, and his 82 year old grandmother. The PPA does not discriminate.

    I dislike the way Hellmuth acts, but I don't let that affect my decisions in life.

    * I do not speak in any way for the PPA, only as myself.

    Posted 7 months ago #
  3. Scott Bethel
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    Well that's too bad that Phil's chosen "persona" has worked so well on you that you actually let it affect your life and personal decisions and convictions. I am old enough to remember the antics of a young Cassius Clay and what a polarizing effect he had in boxing. Many loathed and despised him. Today no one can dispute the positive effect he had for the sport as demand to see him get cracked in the jaw escalated (though many swore they would never buy a ticket to a match where he was on the card). Ty Cobb was the biggest jerk in any sport, yet baseball thrived with him at the center. Yeah, Phil is a horse's ass - full of himself and playing it to the hilt. So much so people won't even shake his hand when he offers. But watch out - 20 or 30 years from now he will be enshrined and lauded as the man who brought the world's attention to poker with his gaudy entrances and bratty behavior. Is he a role model to be proud of? No way. Is he good for poker? Absolutely, but history will bear that out.

    Posted 7 months ago #

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