[TheMightyJim2k]

he is obviously a tremendous tourney player, but he sure does some stupid sh!t. This isn't the first time we've seen him take the worst of it (remember the PAD episode where he wanted to take the AKs against the 22 in a race). But this is much worse....

Phil Hellmuth is $35,000 Underwater

Author: Michael Craig Tournament: 2007 WSOP
Published on: 02:24:58 on Jun 21, 2007

I spent the day today watching Phil Hellmuth at the final table of the $3,000 NLHE. His attempt to win his 12th bracelet was a valiant one and he played beautifully. Circumstances beyond his control made it impossible for him to finish better than 6th, earning $74,000. I then spent two very bizarre hours with Phil trying to interview him for this blog and for a cover story BLUFF hired me to complete on him in two days. Then I drove 5 hours to get home.
I have lots to tell you about Tuesday, as well as my late, late, late night on Monday.
....Let me tell you this sick fact:
Phil Hellmuth lost $35,000 during the $3,000 NLHE tournament, during which he made the final table. It started when he was all-in and could have gone out in tenth place. He had aces against 7-4o off-suit and negotiated "insurance" with Phil Ivey, who was watching the final table. Hellmuth paid $20,000 against Ivey paying $90,000 if the aces got cracked. They held up and Phil H. paid off. This happened repeatedly and because Hellmuth got in with the best of it each time, his debt to Ivey mounted.
It seemed to me that Ivey was offering Keno odds. Andy Bloch was hanging around the tournament area until the last moment before his heads-up match because he wanted to bid on Phil Hellmuth's action in the event that Ivey didn't offer the insurance.
When it was over, Phil Hellmuth finished in 6th, earning $74,000 and owing Phil Ivey a total of $109,000. Hellmuth also mentioned repeatedly that Ivey has won over $500,000 of him in Chinese Poker and is ahead $300,000 in bets made on the putting green in the VIP suite.
Even Mike Matusow thought Hellmuth's insurance bets were "sick". And it's really bad if Mike Matusow thinks you are a sick gambler.

[zeno]

F'ing hilarious! Those guys are out there.

[ACE'S FULL]

Couldnt have happend to a nicer guy.

[jojobinks]

bhahahahhahahah keno odds.

[Button Potato]

I personally watched Helmuth dump more than 100k playing Chinese poker during a 2006 wsop ring game against G Smith. It was like watching a car crash - ugly but I couldn't stop watching.

[whataboutj]

Insurance on his hand??? Crazy bets for sure. Must be nice to lose that much and not worry about it. Now wheres that thread about poker pros going busto...............

[EmptyPocs]

Maybe he should stick to betting with his hair.
Even if he loses he can probably sell it to some donkagroupie.

[Big Mike]

I think this was part of his strategy to win another bracelet. I do the same sort of thing sometimes watching sports. If I really want my team to win, I'll make a bet against them. I never win my sports bets - so guaranteed win for my team!

[daveyboy]

If you had a chance to listen to the Audion of this final table on Bluff.com, they interviewed Ivey and he talked about his side bets with Helmuth. They mentioned that Ivey rarely does interviews with radio, so he must have been feeling pretty happy taking some easy money from Helmuth. Helmuth even gave odds that all red would come on the board. Crazy!!

[EmptyPocs]

You gotta admit though, they are livin the life.
Flinging $$ around with impunity and having the tables give it all back. Sweet.