[SoftcoreRevolt]

The thing is, he's almost needlessly going after Mike. When Mike is just obviously joking around and being a clown you hear "The new mike, Same as the old Mike" in the same tone as when he blows up and is angry, making light of what he said at the end of the prison segment.

In Hellmuth's case, he's sort of jokingly portrayed in a wacky "That's our Phil, ain't he crazy!" light. "What's that say, Poker brat?" isn't said in a tone of scorn, but more light heartedly said. After his fluff segment on his family, that isn't being shot down in the same way Mike's segment is, all that's said is "His wife must be a saint" "I hope she charges him a good rate!" when everything Phil says is totally unlike Mike. Mike's comments are about 60% self depricating, Phil is 90% "Everyone else sucks but me, you stupid donkey."

Yes, the screaming Brit isn't portrayed in the best light, but why is he even being shown? Was he important at all to the tournament? No! While you may not prevent another guy from acting like an idiot, you do set a general tone. Notice how the screaming and carrying on is far reduced on WPT broadcasts (although it is still there in places) and almost non existant on FSN broadcasts like Poker at the Plaza? The announcers just make note of how professional everyone acts, and how you don't see them acting like a fool, and they move on to the next hand.

We've seen how heavily ESPN edits the play of hands, it wouldn't be a trick for them to just be rid of the annoying incidents such as Matias. But they don't. You can have the announcers criticize it all day, but in the end if you show it, it falls under the category of there's no such thing as bad publicity.

And in televised poker's case, instead of giving it so much bad publicity, it could be given much better publicity.

Now, some people have said they enjoy the more "fun" broadcast ESPN shows, and that the serious WPT shows are more dull.

How is a Hellmuth rant "fun"? We've all heard it before, in fact he's in reruns. We've already heard the "Without luck I'd win em all" line 3 times on the WSOP and WPT. Yeah that sure is a genuine blow up, and not a guy acting in front of the cameras. Want a fun broadcast? Show the first 30 seconds, the "he can't even spell poker!" line, and then cut to an intertitle in the style of a silent movie.

"Phil Hellmuth continued to rant for the next 20 minutes"
"Yes, a middle aged man continued to act like a 10 year old in an attempt to get on TV, since he couldn't get on TV for winning poker hands"
"Instead of showing that, we'll return you to your regularly scheduled WSOP broadcast."

See what that does? It makes Hellmuth look like a fool. It actually makes fun of him, instead of telling a joke related to him. Norman Chad's jokes don't actually make fun of him, since they aren't that mean spirited. It's more "Hey look at me I'm Norman Chad aren't I funny!"

But ESPN wouldn't dare make their star Freak attraction look like a fool, he might get mad and boycott the WSOP! Or worse yet, he might realize his antics won't get him on TV anymore, and he might act like a human being, and ESPN can't have that.

Instead Hellmuth gets 5 minutes of add time for UB, his clothing line, and any other products he might want to show off the next time he pulls up in a limo.