Hellmuth won US Poker Open NLHE $10k (1 Viewer)

[upNdown]

I watched this earlier today and I was impressed. Phil played really well and ran hot, but what most impressed me was that he wasnt a self-absorbed babbling twat. I’ve always been a low key fan of the guy and he never makes it easy with his outbursts. But in the past couple of years it seemed like every time I watched him play, he tried to dominate the table talk with talk about himself so much that I didn’t want to watch him any more. He’d become insufferable even for somebody who’d been accustomed to suffering him.
He was a different guy today. And he won. So that’s cool for him. I have to wonder what’s changed, because it was night and day, compared to the last few years.
https://www.pokernews.com/news/2023/03/phil-hellmuth-us-poker-open-win-43295.htm

 

[JMC9389]

He's a much better tournament player than cash player. He needs to stick to tournaments.

 

[upNdown]

I’ll tell you what, he’s still a total dick at the table. At one point, he knocked somebody out, ended up with a bunch of small chips, and told the producers that he could color up 500k of his chips.
On the very next hand, he knocked out another guy. And the second the river card came, sealing that poor bastard’s fate, Phil told the producer “I’ll take a million” without missing a beat. I think most humans would say “good game” or “great tournament” or “nice playing with you” or something. But not Phil.

 

[johnjohn]

Must be the extra soy. really balanced him out.

 

[Mongoose]

I’ll tell you what, he’s still a total dick at the table. At one point, he knocked somebody out, ended up with a bunch of small chips, and told the producers that he could color up 500k of his chips.
On the very next hand, he knocked out another guy. And the second the river card came, sealing that poor bastard’s fate, Phil told the producer “I’ll take a million” without missing a beat. I think most humans would say “good game” or “great tournament” or “nice playing with you” or something. But not Phil.

Back to being true to form!

 

[AH77]

It seems like what seperates Hellmuth from everyone else is that he takes every tournament dead serious wheras some pros just look like they are mailing it in during most tournaments.

Every tournament I watch on Poker GO nowadays seems like guys just robotically calling off 20+ bigs in spots where they really don’t need to. The tightest player at the table could be wearing a sign on their head that says “I have aces” and they will just be like “yeah well I’m just never folding AJ suited in that spot so whatever.”

 

[LowerBama1714]

He’s a therapist’s dream…wish I had that level of narcissism. I’d love me so hard…

 

[DMack]

He’s a therapist’s dream…wish I had that level of narcissism. I’d love me so hard…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DontsLsgsLk

 

[AH77]

He’s a therapist’s dream…wish I had that level of narcissism. I’d love me so hard…

From what I remember from an old podcast, I actually think the persona is something his therapist helped him adopt in the first place. I think the therapist previously worked with a golfer who taught him to blame everything but himself when things went wrong (the clubs, the caddy, the weather, etc). The idea being to not build negative internal thoughts about oneself. Honestly probably not a bad coping mechanism when you’re a professional poker player and so many variables are out of your control.

 

[FDLmold]

From what I remember from an old podcast, I actually think the persona is something his therapist helped him adopt in the first place. I think the therapist previously worked with a golfer who taught him to blame everything but himself when things went wrong (the clubs, the caddy, the weather, etc). The idea being to not build negative internal thoughts about oneself. Honestly probably not a bad coping mechanism when you’re a professional poker player and so many variables are out of your control.

That's messed up. But it sounds like it could work.

 

[FDLmold]

He's a much better tournament player than cash player. He needs to stick to tournaments.

In a NLHE tournament, he has very few equals during the last 30 years.

 

[GetUrShineBox]

I’ll tell you what, he’s still a total dick at the table. At one point, he knocked somebody out, ended up with a bunch of small chips, and told the producers that he could color up 500k of his chips.
On the very next hand, he knocked out another guy. And the second the river card came, sealing that poor bastard’s fate, Phil told the producer “I’ll take a million” without missing a beat. I think most humans would say “good game” or “great tournament” or “nice playing with you” or something. But not Phil.

I saw him immediately shake the guys hand to his right and tell him he played great after he knocked him out. Don’t remember the rest. I personally love his passion for the game.

I saw him finish 2nd in another tournament recently and he took it very gracefully by congratulating the guy and shaking his hand and telling him he played great.

can he be a baby, YES! But I think it’s his passion is way way way more than most and when someone donks him they are going to hear it.

 

[MichaelBubly]

He is insufferable on every cash live stream I've watch with him. Self absorbed and always plays terribly and then blames other players for playing "dumb" as the reason he lost.

Just don't have an ounce of respect left for a pro who publicly mocks casual players for playing wrong.

 

[rusmon]

I think he got a serving of humble pie with the Hustler and LATB streams. Some of Phil’s antics are good for the game imo but it can be taken too far which is where he was at last couple of years. I think the blowback after the streams made him rethink.

 

[upNdown]

I saw him immediately shake the guys hand to his right and tell him he played great after he knocked him out. Don’t remember the rest.

Yeah at that final table, he knocked three guys out in like ten minutes and he was definitely nice to two of them. The third guy - I’m not sure if he had a reason not to toss him a “gg” or if he was just wrapped up in the moment and forgot to be nice.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Yeah at that final table, he knocked three guys out in like ten minutes and he was definitely nice to two of them. The third guy - I’m not sure if he had a reason not to toss him a “gg” or if he was just wrapped up in the moment and forgot to be nice.

You're on that last part for sure. Being nice to his competitors is a learned behavior for sure and he got ripped after the creator game especially. Imagine what the backlash had to be for him to come out and say he'd buy in for X instead of what he deemed the most favorable? Hellmuth giving up some perceived edge due to the opinions of others is mindblowing.

 

[exalted]

Congrats to Phil, difficult to continue to produce results and still captivate audiences.
Like a Gordon R, need a personality in order to stick and be relevant during slumps and "grinding the tour".