GPI SIX PACK: Faces of Phil

“Hi, my name is Eric and I am a Phil Hellmuth fan”… “hi, Eric”.  I admit it, I love Phil Hellmuth and all most of his shenanigans.  I’m man enough to admit that the Poker Brat can cross the line from time to time but , for the most part, Hellmuth’s antics are fun and do not hurt anyone … that includes the many costumes that Hellmuth seems to have in his closet.  Hellmuth is well known for his lavish entrances at the World Series of Poker and the WSOPE … but it’s his out-of-the-blue entrance yesterday at WPT Venice that had me think up this fun list – I know there were so many to chose from but I hope you enjoy this fun list of “The Faces of Phil”:

Let’s start with his appearance at WPT Venice on Tuesday.  I mean, what the hell was going on there?  Did this thing come out of left-field or what?  I was left wondering if Stanley Kubrick had contacted Hellmuth from the afterlife to play in a sequel to Eyes Wide Shut – and that Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Leelee Sobieski were waiting for Hellmuth in the next room.  It looks like I wasn’t the only thinking about it … this is what Liv Boree posted on Twitter after seeing Hellmuth enter the room:

So dinner break just finished and @Phil_Hellmuth just walked in looking like an extra from Eyes Wide Shut pic.twitter.com/s59tA1lIfX

— Liv Boeree (@Liv_Boeree) March 26, 2013

Now I’m actually not ever sure why I rank this “look” as #6.  In fact, I’m not even sure it should be ranked at all as it’s sort of disturbing … yet, I just can’t look away … must … look … away!  “Kindly Remove Your Mask” – that line from Eyes Wide Shut still gives me the heebee jeebees.

Phil Hellmuth the Army General?  The fact that Hellmuth would even contemplate joining the Army is sort of funny to begin with.  But, is it too much of a stretch to think that they man who has “dodged so many bullets” – in other words, survived in crazy 1,000+ player fields – would actually make a great strategist for the Armed Forces?

Ok, ok, maybe I am reaching a bit …

Somehow a General yelling to his wife “That maniac put all that money all-in with two sevens, honey.” wouldn’t translate too well in the field of battle.

Phil Hellmuth as Caesar.  It was funny enough to see Phil in full Caesar attire – but Hellmuth also set himself up and opened the door to so many jokes and snickers from others given the fact that Caesar was sometimes described, amongst other things, as arrogant, stubborn and egoistical – traits that many of his critics attribute to Hellmuth.

No amount of criticism has ever stopped the 13-time WSOP bracelet winner, the Caesar outfit didn’t stop Phil from continuing his “dress-up” traditions.

Is Phil Hellmuth a superhero?  His trench coat, dark sunglasses and black hat combination certainly made him look like one (sorta).  Although the look may have been intimidating to some, I’m happy that Phil has left this look behind – Lord knows that the poor man must have been sweating up a storm … I mean he was wearing a LEATHER TRENCH COAT in the middle of Las Vegas desert … IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER!

I’ll be honest.  I really wasn’t  a big fan of the Phil Hellmuth NASCAR look.  Why then would I rank that look at #2?  Simple.  It reminds me – every single time – of that time that Hellmuth was in the parking lot of the Rio All-Suite Las Vegas Hotel and Casino – during the World Series of Poker – and someone thought it would be a great idea to let Hellmuth drive a race car around – at fairly high speeds.

Now I may be mistaken, but I don’t remember Hellmuth ever being named “Wisconsin Junior Indy Car Racer of the Year” when he was a teen, nor do I remember him ever wanting to leave poker to pursue his lifelong dream of winning NASCAR’s Kobalt Tools 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Putting a poker player behind the wheel of a race car, what the heck could go wrong, right?  Feel free to YouTube the awesome conclusion!

But all kidding aside, Hellmuth is one of the faces of poker … and let’s be honest, life in the poker world simply wouldn’t be as fun if the Poker Brat wasn’t around.  Love him or hate him, the man does have 13 WSOP bracelets to his credit – he got rid of the dreaded “can only win hold’em events” curse this past summer and even took his show to Cannes to win his first WSOP bracelet outside the United States.

The Champ is Here – and he’s here to stay.  Let’s hope more shenanigans are in store at WSOP APAC and in Vegas this summer … maybe bracelets #14 and #15 are right around the corner?

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