Phil Hellmuth in New Foul-Mouthed Meltdown Against Abusive Opponent

07:13
24 Apr

Phil Hellmuth got a taste of his own medicine and the legendary “Poker Brat” really didn’t like it, asking for his obnoxious opponent Eric Persson to be given a penalty even while swearing and dealing out abuse himself!

😱😱😱😱 is this the angriest we've seen @phil_hellmuth??? pic.twitter.com/kcy45bnywY

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) April 22, 2022

Hellmuth was matched with Eric Persson, the CEO of Maverick Gaming, in the opening round of the PokerGO Heads-up Showdown and things weren’t going his way on the feature table.

Faced with incessant laughter whenever he lost a pot, Hellmuth told Persson:

“You might be one of the most obnoxious guys I’ve played in the last few years.”

A short while later, when Hellmuth folded to a re-raise, Persson announced:

“You’re such a bitch Phil, you’re such a bitch!”

When Hellmuth replied: “Show your hand if you’re going to say stupid stuff”, he received a double middle finger salute in response, along with more manic laughter.

Rough day for me! My opponent gave me the double bird, and was out of line w his verbal attacks, but then, I engaged (I’m sure @DougPolkVids can find a clip making me look bad). I should have been the better man, taken the abuse, and found a way to win our match… #POSITIVITYpic.twitter.com/Dbh6UZYmOO

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) April 22, 2022

The pair exchanged barbed comments, with Phil being told he wasn’t a great player, replying:

“I’ve beaten everyone in the world” and Persson exploding “Bullshit, you haven’t been there one day at the Bellagio, what the fuck are you talking about?”

Persson continued: “You can lie to everybody but you can’t lie to me cos I’m there.” That led to $1million offers from Phil that he could beat the Bellagio game, with Persson offering the same deal for a heads-up match.

What happened next can be seen again below, Hellmuth telling Persson to “shut the fuck up” and then calling the floor...

😱😱😱😱 is this the angriest we've seen @phil_hellmuth??? pic.twitter.com/kcy45bnywY

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) April 22, 2022

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It was “Poker Brat” Hellmuth for what was left of the match, calling Persson a “fucking motherfucking asshole”, the commentary team stating: "Things are getting ugly out here.”

Fortunately the match was over before talk turned to fisticuffs, with Persson’s pocket rockets finishing off an irate Hellmuth, who stormed off to complain to his good friend Shaun Deeb at another table.

The aftermath saw Persson state in an interview that Hellmuth had “earned everything he got” in the trash-talking stakes.

Meanwhile, poker Twitter was picking up the pieces after Hellmuth blocked Persson... Daniel Negreanu the first to pull the notorious “Poker Brat” up for double standards.

Embarrassing Phil even for you!

For decades you have ruthlessly berated people at the table, and now one guy (Persson) gives you a taste of your own medicine and you cry like a child

No one in poker history is more deserving of behavior penalties than you pic.twitter.com/vam94af2Pi

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) April 22, 2022

The big question this week has been who will be next to be called out as a highstakes cheat, but perhaps the second biggest should be “who will Phil block next?”

We’ll be bringing you the best of the action from the PGT Heads-Up Showdown as it happens, and you can check out the entire Hellmuth-Persson match here: