Phil Hellmuth could no longer contain his ire regarding a fellow high-stakes poker pro wearing a facemask at the poker table, clearly pointing out that except for rare circumstances, "no one should be able to cover their face."
In a two-hour interview with poker journalist Craig Tapscott of Poker.org, the 59-year-old discussed a list of various topics, and one of them is his view on facemasks b[...] Read more » Phil Hellmuth calls out Ike Haxton for wearing a mask
Posted by tomex11: Phil Helmuth is known for always not liking something at the table, and especially when he doesn't do well, he can quickly get frustrated and insult the whole world and other players at the table.
Very true ^.^
I do kind of agree with him on this one though, face masks should either be all wear one or none wear one. I'm even against sunglasses, big cowboyhats, hoodies and half naked women. Distracting BS! I know bluffing is part of the game, but it shouldn't be the main focus. All those utensils are basically bluffing gear, and if you're undergeared then youre suddenly at a disadvantage in what should be a level playing field..
Joined: Dec '14
Location: Greece
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 2122
i personally also dont like masks , but you cannot force the other player not to wear sth to cover his face , i think it is allowed . a hoodie or sth to hide some of your face or your mouth in order not to give any tells to the other foe . this is part of the game . now i don't know if specifically there is a rule against wearing masks , but this would be ridiculous , especially the corona virus 2 year experience . since then many keep on using masks , even now , in many places everyday all over the world , its not just at the poker tables .
also Hellmuth puts his hands all the time to hide his mouth , cause it is obvious that many times his mouth gives tells to other players , he like talking a lot all the time . so puting the hands in front of the mouth is not the same as putting a mask to cover the mouth , this is what he supports and says . Am i the only one who finds this strange ???
Joined: Sep '19
Location: Peru
Age: 29 (M)
Posts: 5405
Instead of criticizing how the opponent is dressed, let him concentrate on his game, I think that this character is not the first time he has been in the controversy, he surely wants to destabilize him, it is nothing new for this player.
Joined: Dec '14
Location: Greece
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 2122
Yeah . He is like that .. Until recently I used not to take his reactions very seriously . I thought it was funny to watch his outburst reactions when he would lose . His curses or bad language or insults towards non good players (according to his judgement) .
But now I think he simply doesn't know how to behave politely when he loses , to accept his defeat , the superiority of his opponent and move on , he is a bad loser . This is really very bad attitude . He should be more careful . Times have changed . People don't take so light this kind of behaviour like they used to do 10 or 20 or 30 years ago .
1. Mask use: he may be living with his elderly Mother, so reducing his chances to catch a bring back anything, including the new variants of COVID. 2. Mask use II: It is his choice barring any actual rule. 3. The Poker Brat: Once a brat, always.... he NEEDS something to complain about, how else does the "the Best in the World" explain to himself another loss or not reigning supreme? Watch him live, every 3 minutes, "idiots this", "I so had you", "played so bad" etc, constant. All that said the boy can play, but as all the other comments above give it a rest for a bit!
Joined: May '09
Location: Croatia
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 20513
I understand that he complain on almost every tournament, but this covid mask are too much! if there was not problems with corona, nobody would have this masks on tournaments, but now when everything is over, you dont need vaccine to travel or anything, they sitll use them! its just sill to have big FFP2 mask on table, but yeah, nobody cant stop him to have it!
Joined: Sep '19
Location: Peru
Age: 29 (M)
Posts: 5405
Phil Hellmuth criticizes Ike Haxton for wearing a mask, that is stupid on Phil Hellmuth's part, he is the only one who criticizes such atrocity, everyone is free to go as they see fit, and it is not because of the covid, it could be because another thing.
Joined: Dec '14
Location: Greece
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 2122
i see that old school players like him or also Negreanu , and others , are very anxious nowadays , more than in the paST , with all the GTO players out there , some of them have stayed behind , cannot follow . and they start playing more loose or recklessly , they behave in a worse way against opponents . Helmuth has many sponsors ,.paying him a ton e of $$$ to play many games to get many bracelets ,. Daniel need to be competitive enough to stay at the top so as to keep on having sponsorships like the GG ambassador thing . if you see how he played during 2023 you will understand . even his first 2024 win was very lucky , the winning hand is very donky kind of luck .
now he criticizes another player for him wearing a mask . it is clear why he does this , its because of the defeat . even if that not the reason , he should have picked another moment to comment what he said about masks , not now against the one who beat him . he should have done it later , without naming any players specifically , or else it seems he might have some hostility towards that player . it is a logical hypothesis .
Joined: Aug '08
Location: Poland
Age: 41 (M)
Posts: 804
If someone is afraid of contracting a virus, they have the right to wear a mask and play with it at the poker table, unless the regulations prohibit it. As for Phil Helmuth, he is known for the fact that when he loses, he picks on everyone around him and looks for people to blame for his failures. More than once, after his bad moves, he called out commas at the table... I like him, but sometimes he behaves like a little child...
Joined: Sep '19
Location: Peru
Age: 29 (M)
Posts: 5405
Haxton is a great player, I think it has worked very well for him to go to tournaments with masks on, that way he has more freedom to make every decision in poker without getting nervous, others can also go that way, I don't know why. they criticize
