You’d think winning 16 World Series of Poker bracelets would be enough attention for one guy, but apparently not.
The Poker Brat has marked his territory yet again at the 2021 World Series of Poker event, setting up an entrance that had a lot of heads turning – especially Lord of the Rings fans.
Find all the details of Phil Hellmuth’s latest stunt at the poker table, and it doesn’t even involve flipping tables.
Who is Phil Hellmuth?
Phil Hellmuth, or The Poker Brat as some call him, is poker’s Jake Paul. You hate his childish antics, but you can’t look away.
But you also can’t deny his talent. He has won 16 World Series of Poker bracelets and is 18th on the all-time money list, with his total live earnings reaching $26 million.
And it seems the poker player from Wisconsin is not done. He arrived at the 2021 WSOP tournament in Las Vegas – more on that later – and sat down just missing out on the bracelet at the $50k Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller.
He puts the Hell in Hellmuth
The Poker Brat didn’t get his name lightly. He has a long history of showcasing a series of antics, usually, suspiciously, when he’s losing.
There has been storming away from tables, there have been angry rants, there have been flipping tables. Frankly, the casino better has every table he’s sitting at well insured.
A favorite amongst the fans is a vaguely misogynistic rant aimed at opponent Liv Boeree. After setting up what he thought was a great psychological one up for a big pot, he loses to the dismissive poker player and goes on a long tirade about cracked aces and millennials.
Maybe misogynistic is too harsh. After all, he kicks off at anyone and everyone.
And even his fans are getting tired of it. In a WSOP event held this year, there was cussing and aggrandizing behavior when he lost a big pot and went off on a tirade at opponent Anthony Zinno, who just seemed pleased that he got a reaction. Alongside the video online are comments like:
“I enjoyed the freak show at one time, but this garbage is getting old. Time for them to start penalizing him for these childish tirades. I agree the other players should not have to be tolerant of this garbage.”
Maybe stick to playing on casino platforms like ggpoker.com, Phil. No physical tables for you to flip there.
Gandalf has entered the building
And the pageantry wasn’t lost this year. Hellmuth entered the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino for the main event on November 3rd, clad in a stark white robe and an equally stark white beard, in an apparent attempt to look like Lord of the Rings’ famed Gandalf the White. He had the staff, the sword, and the swagger.
Arriving fashionably late – seven hours into the 1F day – no doubt he told punters that a wizard is never late and arrives precisely when he means to. He was flagged by his sworn enemy, fellow poker player, and $50k Poker Players Championship winner Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates. Some referred to him as Saruman. Not to mention an entourage of hardbodies in skin-tight clothes who appeared to be there to prompt applause, perhaps?
As the heads turned in the Rio casino, a fumbling brawl broke out between the two, which is nothing new for Hellmuth, and chips were scattered as (plastic) swords were swung around the tables. He sure knows how to put on a show.
We said “attempt” earlier because true Tolkien fans will be able to distinguish the difference between the grey and white robe and the evil and pure hearts underneath, but to the rest of us, two old hobos had got past security and decided to scrap over, what? A cigarette butt?
I guess we’ll take it over a sore loser.
