Late Sunday night and early Sunday morning, professional poker player Phil Hellmuth received criticism for his game and behavior in a high-stakes game broadcast on YouTube.
Hellmuth and her well-known professional Tom Dwan joined seven online streamers for a game with a minimum purchase of $ 50,000 for $ 100- $ 200 blinds. Although there were several complaints about Hellmuth from the poker community, the biggest problem was about a possible angle shot.
An “angle shoot” is a poker term used to describe an experienced player who takes advantage of an inexperienced player using unethical, deceptive, or unfair methods.
In this case, Hellmuth was involved with ‘Slime Machine’, a non-professional podcast presenter and streamer. Slime Machine moved all-in with Ace-6 on an Ace-8-2 flop for over $ 35,000. Hellmuth, holding the Ace-9, was visibly and audibly confused. On the run, push your cards forward and signal for someone to turn their hand. Slime took this as a fold and turned his hand.
When Slime revealed his hand indicating his belief that he won the hand, you can hear other players at the table saying “no” that Hellmuth did not withdraw. The end result was that Hellmuth returned his bet to Slime, minus $ 5,000.
Here is the video of the hand in question:
While showing cards is not uncommon in cash game formats, it’s hard to expect a casual gamer to understand. Hellmuth defended herself on Twitter in a series of tweets, explaining that Dwan asked her to turn over her cards to see her hand, and as a result, Hellmuth made her slide the cards in a way that looked like a fold from the angle of the camera. It didn’t help the viewers to see that the announcers called him right away.
At a table full of professionals, who knows? Maybe it’s okay to grab the whole stack. At a table full of fans, it may be right to return the entire bet. Hellmuth described the $ 5,000 “penalty” as a “very good deal” for Slime.
After hearing Hellmuth’s explanation, some recovered their earlier statements about the alleged shooting. But Slime probably says it best in a way that describes the atmosphere of the game.
I had some funny hands, I had some points, I hope it was fun to see it too I think
1. non-verbal flipping over the line seemed like a fold to me though
2. Keating told him to turn his hand and it’s an idc smoke weed family friendly game
– journalist (@slime_machine) May 2, 2022
Known as the “Poker Brat”, Hellmuth’s behavior during the games has become part of her brand. However, it was not well received in this environment. In a game with professional video game players, chess players, and podcast hosts, Hellmuth was her normal self. His words showed that he treated it like a normal, serious game. His actions did not.
Hellmuth fell short for most of the night, buying the minimum of $ 50,000, while the casuals around her had more than $ 300,000. He conveyed advantageous scenarios, such as riding the big blind. He rebuked the players, as he usually does.
Home, @phil_hellmuth
As a fan of poker, I was thrilled to see how you help grow a new audience.
Instead, I watched as an adult baby blamed everyone but himself for being shot by the streamers who were having fun.
Alex smoked you in poker And she smoked you in chess. pic.twitter.com/B7IbtRjCyn
– Jack “CouRage” Dunlop (@CouRageJD) May 2, 2022
In what Hustler Casino Live described as “the biggest event in the history of live streaming of poker,” the talk was not about poker or the collection of personalities. This is Hellmuth, the 16-time World Series of Poker champion, and his uninspired night.
The entire game, which has been viewed more than 400,000 times in the first 12 hours of being live, can be viewed here.
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