Can Phil Hellmuth Avoid The Drake Curse?

It’s hard to know which of them is more pleased at the photo opportunity – 15 time WSOP bracelet winning legend Phil Hellmuth or multiple Grammy-winning rapper Drake - but the poker legend may live to regret his latest famous selfie...

The ‘Poker Brat’ and ‘Drizzy’ are well-known to each other, big Phil on the advisory board of headphone brand MuzikConnect which numbers Drake among its investors and brand ambassadors.

The rapper is also no stranger to Hellmuth’s world, although a previous casino visit didn’t end too well for the Canadian singer and songwriter.

A visit to Vancouver's Parq Casino saw Drake denied service, leading to accusations of racial profiling. The Toronto-born star accused the Parq of “profiling me and not allowing me to gamble when I had everything they originally asked me for.”

Meanwhile, it’s another Canadian who is uppermost in Hellmuth’s mind this month, Daniel Negreanu, and meeting Drake might just be a wrong move for Phil’s chances of defeating the GGPoker ambassador for the third straight time in their High Stakes Duel.

The 'Drake Curse' apparently states that “if Drake wears a jersey, poses for a photo with an athlete or in any way appears to be supporting any particular team or person, that team or person will go on to lose, often against the odds.”

Several soccer players and teams including Sergio Agüero and Manchester City, his favourite Kentucky Wildcats college basketball team basketball team, the Alabama Crimson Tide college football team, and UFC loudmouth Conor McGregor have all tasted bitter defeat shortly after posing with the Canadian rapper.

For poker fans the big question is whether Phil Hellmuth will be the latest big name to come unstuck thanks to the Drake Curse?

Our money is still on a Poker Brat victory, but invoking superstition might be Kid Poker’s best bet of ending a long, long heads-up losing streak.