Just a few days ago, poker’s winningest player, Phil Hellmuth proved why he’s known to the world as The Poker Brat. He was awarded the nom de guerre early in his career for his frequent outbursts and temper tantrums and hasn’t disappointed fans since. He has, once again, lived up to his nickname, this time during the WSOP Main Event with fans and players looking for a penalty that never came.
In the hand in question, Hellmuth was up against Alex Kuzmin, who raised from the middle position to 3,200. The Poker Brat called, as did James Campbell. After a flop of 4-3-10, Camby checked and Kuzmin bet 3,000. Hellmuth raised to 6,000 and Camby shoved all in with his stack of 26,200 chips. That was all it took for Hellmuth to lose it.
Hellmuth launched into a verbal assault, saying, “This mother f***ing guy … f***cking got away with murder all day against me. How in the f*** does this happen?”
Shaun Deeb, who was providing commentary for the game, was the first to call out Hellmuth for his behavior. He said, “This is so wrong by Phil. This is where Phil deserves penalties,” said Shaun Deeb, who was commentating the final table. “You cannot talk in a multi-way pot and give away your weakness with an opponent still to act. It’s so wrong he gets away with stuff like this. If I’m sitting with a king-high flush draw I know that Phil is not continuing if I call. That totally affects this action and totally hurts his opponent’s equity.”