News / Chris Edwards / 23 June 2008 / Leave a comment

Whenever there is a televised tournament there is always one man the cameras are eager to follow, Phil Hellmuth, writes Chris Edwards.

While he has been the most successful player ever at the WSOP with a record 64 cashes and 11 bracelets, he may be remembered more for his extravagant tirades when taking a bad beat or facing bad play.

Two of his most famous moments happened at the 2005 Main Event on day 1. On the first hand, Phil looks down at AK and raises it up. Its folded round to an elderly Italian gentleman who looks down at AA and he re-raises. Phil studies him for a while and says 'Ok, thats good enough. I call'. Phil checks dark and the flop comes A 4 4, a great flop for Phil. The Italian gentleman checks as well and the turn comes a Q.

Phil quickly checks and the Italian gentlemen instantly over-bets the pot. Phil interrogates the gentleman, asking him why he bet so much and if he made Queens full. Phil then asks: 'Whats my name? Who am I?' before flipping his hand over, 'Am I Phil Hellmuth? Is that Ace King?!' Phil folds and is shown what he was up against. He looks amazed and shouts over to his wife with what has probably become his most famous line: 'Honey, I was supposed to go broke on that hand! Except they forgot one thing...I can dodge bullets, baby'.

The second hand occurs when an amateur player opens with KhJh and Phil, once again, looks down at AK. Phil re-raises and the amateur player studies before moving all-in. Phil quickly confirms the action and then executes the infamous Hellmuth insta-call. The flop of 4 4 2 means Phil is more than a 4/1 favorite to win the hand. The 9 on the turn means Phil is now more than a 9/1 favorite to win the hand, but a rivered J shatters the odds and cripples Phil's stack. He then goes on what is probably his most outrageous verbal assault:

'This f****ng donkey sticks 5000 in with King Jack, I mean, the guy cant even spell poker. I re-raised to let him know what I have. Some of the worst players in the world, I cant believe this is the World Series of Poker!'.

Phil would get knocked out of the tournament in the next hand. A player opens with 77 and Phil moves in with AQ and gets called. The 7's hold up and Phil bites his tongue long enough to shake his opponents hand and move to the rail. He cant hold back for long, telling his wife 'That maniac put all his money in with two sevens, did you see that?'.

Phil will always be remembered for outbursts like these and only time will tell if he ever quietens down and lets his game do the talking.