“Poker Brat” Phil Hellmuth Behavior Booed In WSOP Main Event
Filed Under: Poker
UltimateBet.com Pro Phil Hellmuth has been termed the “Poker Brat” because he simply can’t keep his mouth shut at the tables. Hellmuth is known for his loud, abrasive and frequently obnoxious berating of other players, and in this year’s WSOP Main Event, he was actually penalized for these actions – almost.
During the WSOP Main Event, while seated at the ESPN featured table, Phil Hellmuth fell victim to a bluff from a virtually unknown competitor, Cristian Dragomir. Hellmuth lost $400,000 chips to the Romanian’s bluff, and verbally let loose on the guy. For a period of several minutes, Hellmuth berated Dragomir, calling him the “worst player in history” and “an idiot”, among other things.
Hellmuth was assessed a one-orbit penalty from the tournament supervisor, meaning that when the next day’s play began, Hellmuth would be forced to sit out for one full turn around the tables, losing Antes and Blinds throughout.
After a meeting with executives of Harrah’s the following morning, the penalty was revoked, giving Phil Hellmuth only a warning for his rudely obstructive behavior. This action sparked a host of comments and boos from the poker community, which began appearing almost immediately on forums and blogs across the Internet.
The biggest concern was that Phil Hellmuth, because he is the record holding 11-time WSOP Bracelet winner, an UltimateBetPoker.net Pro and has celebrity status in the poker world, had received exceptionally favorable treatment from the casino. Would an unknown or even intermediate player have been let off with just a warning?
Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the WSOP, stated, “Warnings and penalties are intended to correct inappropriate behavior. Our rulings should be as fair as possible, given the circumstances.”
According to Commissioner, Hellmuth offered his apologies to the tournament director Jack Effel, Harrah’s VP Howard Greenbaum and Pollack himself. Pollack insisted “the punishment did not fit the crime. Phil has now been warned and put on notice in a way that he never has been.”
Though the poker community as a whole felt this to be utterly unfair treatment, the penalty removal stuck, and UltimateBetPoker’s Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth went on to finish 45th in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, collecting $154,400.
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