It's All About Hellmuth On Poker Night In America S05 E15

The latest episode released by Poker Night in America deserves a failing grade with regard to the editing process as the action begins with Phil Hellmuth informing his tablemates that he wore no underwear during his WSOP Main Event victory.

Whether or not Hellmuth goes commando is certainly more than viewers need or want to know and video editors would have been better served leaving that piece of footage on the cutting room floor. Phil was responding to a question from the lone female at the table, Kelly Winterhalter, as to whether or not he considered himself superstitious.

When Hellmuth admitted that he was, Winterhalter wanted to know if Phil remembered "the underpants that you were wearing when you won the World Series." That victory was way back in 1989 when Hellmuth shocked the poker world by beating Johnny Chan in the Main Event as a 24-year-old, the youngest ever at the time.

Twenty-eight years and 13 additional WSOP titles later finds Hellmuth in the Poker Hall of Fame and the center of attention at whatever poker table he sits down at, including the PNIA $25/$50 cash game at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California. But cash games are not Phil's forte and this session continues in that vein as the 53-year-old dropped $6,450 when all was said and done.

Pocket Pairs No Good

That included a hand in which Hellmuth saw his pocket aces get cracked by Rep Porter when Porter's A-10 connected for trips on the flop. Both players were all in before the flop, prompting Hellmuth to re-buy for another $5,000 after Porter scooped the $9,075 pot.

"I feel like today if we play long enough, I'm going to get all the money," Hellmuth stated, following another hand that saw him fold his pocket sixes and 78% advantage after a $2,800 check-raise by Lee Markholt after the flop.

The Results and Value Beyond Dollars

Markholt finished the cash game up $5,050, not quite as good as big winner Rep Porter (+$11,250) and the $9,350 won by Harlan Karnofsky. The only other player to book a winning session was Winterhalter (+$200), who perhaps found greater value in learning to never again ask Hellmuth questions about his underwear.

Joining Hellmuth on the losing side were Doc Sands (-$11,900), Keith McNair (-$5,000), and Bob Mather (-$2,875), the latter taking the seat of McNair when he lost his initial buy-in and hit the road rather than dig deeper into his pockets.

PNIA Cash Game - January 28, 2017 - Thunder Valley Casino Resort