Phil Hellmouth

[LouKadeez]

Has there ever been someone who was as good at what he does, as Phil is, who was half as obnoxious and full of himself? I am sure that Barry Bonds might come to mind, but at least he stays away from the press.

[27offsuit]

Yes.

[The B]

[ QUOTE ]
Has there ever been someone who was as good at what he does, as Phil is, who was half as obnoxious and full of himself? I am sure that Barry Bonds might come to mind, but at least he stays away from the press.

[/ QUOTE ]

of course Bonds stays away from the press...he's a f*cking cheater

at least all of Phil's wins (and all 10 bracelets) are genuine and pure...his hall of fame status won't be surrounded by collusion (or any other form of cheating)speculation

[underoath73]

barry bonds was a hall of fame player before his home run hitting idiot, and it has never been proved he cheated, no one says if he did not hit those home runs he would not be in the hall of fame

[BREWMANCHU]

Ummmm,Barry admitted to using steriods thinking it was flak seed oil. Which is understandable, I always confuse my HGH with my flak bag.

[CrazyLond]

If it was discovered a well-known pro was using meth or coke to improve their perception at the table, would their success be considered tainted? (As if this would be some ground breaking discovery)

[underoath73]

who cares, its still always said he was going to be a hall of famer regardless of how many home runs he hit after 2001

[shane88888]

Every teammate Barry Bonds has ever had hates him. That says a lot about a person.

I heard Andy Van Slyke on the Boston sports radio station. This was like three years ago. I thought, "Awesome. I loved Andy Van Slyke. But why the hell is he on the Boston radio?"

Then he proceeded to trash Bonds and his 'roid use for ten minutes. The best quote, "Remember, I took showers with the guy. One head was gettin' bigger, and the other was gettin' smaller." I really enjoyed this stop on the Andy Van Slyke Cross-Country Barry-Bashing Tour.

Away from the table, everyone in poker speaks very highly of Hellmuth. He seems like a very decent human being.

And while he is an infant at the table, he knows what's good for business. And monkeying it up for ESPN is very, very good for business.

I'm guessing he makes, by far, the most poker-related (endorsements, appearance fees, etc) money away from the tables. (This doesn't count people like Bobby Baldwin or Lyle Berman.)

So, please, continue to hate Phil. It's only exactly what he wants.

[OminousRun]

Phil H said in an interview (I believe it was a "Play Poker Like the Pros" episode) that his agent/sponsors/etc wanted him to play up the "Poker Brat" image. More camera time = more name recognition = more $$$. It was a good business more on his part.

I think Matusow has had some of the same type advice, building up his "Mouth" image. ESPN runs a segment on Matusow being a loud mouth during one of the first few times he's seen on TV during the 04 WSOP and thats the role he's run with.

I've heard these guys are different away from the poker tables.

[MJBuddy]

Same goes for players like Laak, who openly on this site explained that they act out for image and publicity.

Phil, however, is an annoying person to watch and drives me insane. I tune in everytime I see him on because I enjoy watching people mess with him and eventually bust him. It's good TV, and I love to hate him.