Phil Hellmuth’s ESPN poker commentary not a fan favorite

Phil Hellmuth is known as a lot of things, some of which can’t be repeated here. There’s no denying the fact that he has skills at the poker tables, having amassed 15 WSOP bracelets and more than $22 million in live action. However, when he recently moved from the poker table to the poker booth, his skills apparently didn’t get the memo and his reception as a poker commentator was not received all that well by the community.

Hellmuth was tapped to sit down with Lon McEachern and Norman Chad to provide commentary for the WSOP Big One for One Drop tournament in Vegas. While he fortunately didn’t throw any of his famous tantrums, he was still called out for what came across as condescension and a lack of decorum for comments made about players’ decisions.

Most notably, Phil Galfond took to Twitter to chide The Poker Brat for comments he made regarding the world’s winningest poker player, Justin Bonomo (who would eventually take down the One Drop tournament for $10 million). Galfond tweeted, “I don’t post much negativity, but I really am bothered by the way @phil_hellmuth is commentating on such a prestigious event.  Implying that @JustinBonomo is on this amazing run with an inferior strategy and a lot of luck undermines poker as a skill game & robs viewers of a hero.”

Hellmuth read the tweet and said that he would try to “do better.” It didn’t exactly work. He began complimenting players and individual plays, but did so with a certain air of superiority that isn’t exactly keeping with the high standards of ESPN’s broadcasts.