WATCH: Phil Hellmuth Gets Needled, Blows Up, And Quits Poker ShowHumboldt Mike Gets Under Poker Hall Of Famer's Skin In Latest No Gamble, No Future On PokerGO |
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The latest Phil Hellmuth blow up is perhaps one of his biggest ever. While he didn’t threaten to burn down a casino, he did rage quit on the latest episode of No Gamble, No Future, throwing his microphone across the table before storming out.
The incident, which was filmed for the PokerGO cash game show, involved a high-stakes player Humboldt Mike, who managed to get under Hellmuth’s skin after some repeated needling.
The hand started with a straddle from Nikhil ‘Airball’ Arcot to $800, and calls from Alan Keating and Ryan Feldman.
Humboldt Mike woke up with pocket jacks in the small blind and opted to raise big, making it $9,000. Hellmuth then looked down at A Q in the big blind and quickly moved all in for $24,500. Everyone got out of the way and Mike made the call, setting up a classic coinflip.
The jabs started coming before the board was even dealt, showing that there had been some animosity brewing between the two over the course of the session. It also didn’t help that Hellmuth was losing, having previously been bluffed by Keating, while losing both runouts in a six-figure coinflip with Feldman.
“F***ing morons running like this against me, it’s unbelievable,” said Hellmuth.
But when it came to the current hand, Keating decided to throw some kindling on the fire, joking, “He got all his money in with no pair.”
“No pair and no draw,” added Mike, before saying that they would only run this board one time.
Watch the full hand play out below.
Hellmuth had been silent, but was feeling good enough to start chirping after the flop of A 9 7.
“A ten makes it fun,” Hellmuth said.
“A jack makes it really fun,” countered Mike.
Instead the turn was the 8, giving Mike some more outs.
Hellmuth remained comfortable despite the added drama, correctly pointing out that Mike only had six outs. His demeanor changed, however, when the J spike the river, and Mike leapt out of his chair to celebrate.
“Start the car baby, let’s go!” Mike shouted as he danced around his seat.
To add insult to injury, Jean-Robert Bellande then insisted the dealer count down the stacks, not realizing that Mike had Hellmuth well covered. Mike took it as a needle, and decided to pile on.
“Phil, I’ve got an address if you need to send some,” he said.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“Buddy, I told you… You want me to quit? Alright, I’m going to f***ing quit. I can’t play with you anymore. You’re such an asshole. I don’t mind losing the flip, I really don’t, but I asked you not to do that shit.”
Mike protested, saying that he didn’t want Hellmuth to actually quit, but ultimately couldn’t convince him to stay.
“You have been more out of line to me than any other f***ing person has been to me in a year and a half,” Hellmuth ranted, most likely referencing his viral encounter with trash-talking casino owner Eric Persson.
“F*** you, man,” Hellmuth said to Mike. “I don’t know who you are, but I’m never going to film with you again.”
Bellande tried to play his usual role as peacemaker, but Hellmuth wasn’t having it.
“No, I don’t give a f*** JRB,” Hellmuth replied, throwing his microphone pack across the table.
The rant continued as Hellmuth gathered his belongings, stating that he didn’t have to play with anybody he dislikes, and that he has more fun playing in his Palo Alto home game.
You can catch the full episode as well as a massive archive of on-demand poker programming on PokerGO. Get $20 off an annual subscription with the promo code ‘CARDPLAYER’ today.
*Photo by PokerGO – Antonio Abrego