The Scoop -- Phil Hellmuth

Phil Hellmuth is the leading World Series of Poker bracelet winner with 11, and is considered by many of his peers to be the best tournament hold’em player in the world. He’s also affectionately known as “The Poker Brat.” He received the nickname after gaining a reputation for being emotional and sometimes abrasive at the tables. In this segment of Hellmuth’s four-part interview with Adam and Diego, he talks about the image he’s created.

Diego Cordovez: You said something very interesting that I actually hadn’t heard before, which is that sometimes when you go off, it’s actually a cathartic thing for you in that it actually helps you. I see the bigger picture, where I think overall it hurts you in different ways, but you’re saying that when you take a bad beat, you’re vulnerable to tilt, and this might prevent tilt.

Phil Hellmuth: To be honest, I think what’s 100 percent best for me is if I don’t get emotional in the first place, if I could somehow avoid that. Getting emotional, I think it’s probably better for me to get a little bit out, you know what I mean? But it’s close. I had this great attitude in ’06, and then I read an article that said, “The Poker Brat is dead.” I’m like, “Yes, this image is gone.” Then in ’07, we were filming for something — Poker After Dark — and I just completely lost it. I’m like, “Oh God, the Poker Brat is back.”

Adam Schoenfeld: That’s a made-for-TV controlled situation.

PH: But that was a tough situation for me. I was at a Sunday Night Football game in Dallas, scheduled to fly back at halftime, which was kind of crazy, because I was in my friend’s box. I got word that Terrell Owens wanted to hang out that night, and I’m like, “All right, maybe I should stick around.” So, I met him at a restaurant later, and then we went out. I slept about three hours, and then came onto the set. I was just completely wiped out, trying to play Poker After Dark. So, usually when I go off, it has something to do with exhaustion.

AS: Just one thing, and we should probably move on from this issue. The only thing I’ll say, and this is in your defense, is that you have such a big TV image, and you’ve become such a personality, that sometimes people who don’t even know you at the table are taking shots at you to provoke you. That’s the flip side of the coin. Now, as a champion, you have to learn to deal with that, and you’re still going to be held to a higher standard.

PH: That’s completely right, but then it gets worse. There are just those people who are weird anyway, or they can’t handle being at the table with me. I become the focus of the whole table, and they say weird and inappropriate things, and it gets worse. That’s one thing I address when I’m doing sensitivity training to the floorpeople. I say, “Look, about three or four times, I’m going to ask you for some protection. I might go off on somebody after they have my chips in their stack, and the whole table is going to love it. It’s going to be entertaining, but I’m going to need some protection. I just want you floorpeople to know that.” It does happen. It happens once every three or four tournaments. People are almost always inappropriate, and if I call them on it, they say, “Well, who are you to call that on me?”