I'm in the minority here, but I like Phil Hellmuth. Most of his critics say he is a spoiled brat and needs to grow up because he insults players and throws tantrums. He believes if you beat him in poker you are a lucky idiot and if he beats you it is because he vastly out-played you with his superior skills.
Most grown-ups have some inkling that other people have emotions and feelings, but children are slow to develop the concept of "other people." Phil is like a child in this regard. It is a fact that he stopped maturing emotionally somewhere around the age of 5.
Well, who wants to grow up anyway? I think we need a Big Baby to act out all our childish fantasies in the poker world. Who hasn't wanted to scream at the player across the table for playing a hand poorly, yet scooping a bunch of your chips because he got lucky? YOU ARE A SUB-HUMAN MORONIC FREAK! HOW CAN YOU PLAY THAT HAND? YOU DON'T HAVE THE SENSE GOD GAVE A DONUT! Instead, we bottle up that rage, and often say, "Nice hand," with all the refined, polite manner in which we ask the old man in the neighboring limo for some Grey Poupon. "Very nice hand sir."
We act polite because we are grown-ups, but what really are the advantages to growing up? You go bald, get ulcers, your skin wrinkles, your bones become brittle, you shrink, your teeth fall out and you end up in diapers. So who really wants to grow up?
I think Phil rubs so many people the wrong way because they wish they could hurl out a profuse barrage of venomous words upon the lucky idiots who beat them, even if that person is the quiet, elderly woman who plays every hand and often misreads her cards at the $1-2 table. WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE ALREADY GRANDMA? YOU STUPID OLD CRONE! YOU ARE AS BLIND AS A BAT! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PICK UP A TELL ON YOU WHEN YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE?
Well, maybe there is a line that we shouldn't cross and sometimes Phil crosses that line, but my point is we need him and people like him to express what we are not expressing in the world. The fact that he does it in a public arena, totally out of context to what is socially appropriate, is not only hilarious it is also a refreshing burst of honesty.
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Phil has become the T.O. of poker. What started out as genuine pouting and childish tantrums has led to planned antics carefully designed to envite the comments of commentators and spectators. Doing this has landed the "Poker Brat" invitations to many televised events whose ratings unfortunately increase with every infantile fit he orchestrates. So all you who criticize his tyraids, while secretly waiting for the next one- take solice in the fact that you are helping to line the "Brat's" pockets.
I love T.O.!!!! Phil is kewl too. But Mr. Helmuth is nothing like T.O. Well, perhaps they are entertaining and controversial, but that's where it ends. Mr. Owens has spoken his mind to the press and not held back how he feels. Right or Wrong? Who knows except T.O. Mr. Helmuth and all poker players are greedy. How can you fault him for that? Everyone wants to win. He has his own style. Give him some credit and leave T.O. out of it. You are neither. We'd rather that you say: "thank you" and be on your way.
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