Hellmuth's Bust and other ESPN Action

[TomCollins]

Man, the guy is a clown. I swear he can't possibly be that stupid, and figure hes showboating for the cameras, but I realize he's been doing it for years. He is more professional wrestler bad guy than real person.

I make my way to the Rio about midight, during the break before level 7. I see a few names walking in, walk past Dan Harrington's table and take a seat in the bleachers at the ESPN featured table. Hellmuth and Quack Quack are there, and a bunch of players I didn't recognize. First hands I see, Hellmuth raises, gets reraised (or pushed on), and folds AK face up both times. Two hands in a row. After the each hand, he proceeds to tell the table how hes the greatest player of all time, and how he is going to fold AK.

A player goes all in with 99 (who was very short), and is called by JTs. Flop comes AKQ. Turn 9 and the crowd cheers. River is Q, and the crowd erupts! So 3 hands later, at Phil's SB, the button raises, Phil reraises. The button goes all in pretty fast for about 15k, and Hellmuth instantly calls and proudly shows AK. The button shows KJo for the Bill Fillmaff special. Flop is rags, turn is a rag. I yell out a loud "JACK!!!" and the dealer answers my request with a rivered jack. A few people cheer, but not as many as I would expect. Hellmuth then decides to go crazy and talks to anyone who will listen. He sits out about 15 hands, pointing to the TV monitor, walks around the room, talks to people in the crowd, cameraman. He then berates the player who pushed KJ a little more, and eventually makes it back to the table. A few hands after that, Hellmuth raises on the button. Quack Quack reraises, Hellmuth pushes (I think this is the action, its pretty hard to tell from the bleachers). Money gets all in, Quack Quack has 7s, and Phil has AQ. Board is no help, and Hellmuth is sent packing. I didn't see any tears this year, though.

Remember, Donkeys alwasy draw.