[Todd Terry]

I’ve watched Phil play on TV and have always seen hands which I believed he played terribly. On a recent episode of Poker After Dark, Gus Hansen said that no sane player would play Phil Hellmuth’s style of play. Steve Zolotow said that Phil was great against mediocre players, but not so good against skilled professionals.

I think we should all open our eyes and realize that there is more that one way to play NLH tournaments, and that Phil, however the hell he does it (and he always says he plays very differently than everyone else), does it better than everyone else.

Additionally, perhaps many of the perceived flaws in Phil’s game are more perception than reality. The conventional wisdom is that Phil is too afraid to put all his chips in the middle, and that he makes laydowns when people play back at him when the pot odds and the opponent’s range of hands dictate a call. Thus, thinking opponent should play back at him and reraise him liberally.

In the 2K event, Phil had 99 in the blinds, reraised with it, and got called by Spiderman. The flop came 235 or 245 or something like that. Phil bet, Spiderman moved in. This is a situation where the perceived Phil Hellmuth would be expected to fold. He thought forever, and called. He was ahead, Spiderman had AJ, but Phil’s hand failed to hold up.

At the final table of the 1500 event that Phil just won, he raised with AT, Scott Clements moved all in with A5 for 740K more, I believe. This is a situation where the perceived Phil would fold – he only has AT. An Internet whiz kid would call based on pot odds and range. Phil didn’t fold, he called, and his hand held up.

I’ve heard good players describe Phil as super tight, other good players describe him as super loose. Another said he is both, and that he changes between the two frequently. What seems to be universal is that no one gives him credit for being the best. Image is critically important in this game, and Phil uses his image better than anybody. A lot of lesser players are scared to play against him. A lot of better players misperceive his game and he traps them and usually gets in with the best of it. It’s possible that he intentionally misplays hands for small amounts of chips to exploit people’s perceptions later on.

On the cash game/tournament debate, if the goal of playing poker is to make money, I suspect no one has made more money from poker (including endorsements) than Phil.