Phil Hellmuth In Shooting for Season 2 of Billions

Viewers are looking forward to the second season of the popular HBO series “Billions”, the series loosely based on the activities of Preet Bharara, the US attorney who was a key figure in the legal processes that brought about Black Friday, the devastating day in the history of online poker. With a star cast that includes actors like Paul Lewis, Paul Giamatti (one of my favorite actors) and Maggie Siff, it is little wonder fans are waiting impatiently for season 2.

The second series is currently in production and thanks to Phil Hellmuth’s announcement on social media, we can now look forward to Hellmuth and fellow poker pro Brandon Cantu making an appearance at some point during the second run of Billions, which is likely to air late next year. Unfortunately this means we will have to wait before we see exactly what role the WSOP poker legend will play in the show but I’m sure it will be pivotal to the plot, at least that’s what Hellmuth will tell us!

Never one to sit at the sidelines whilst the action is taking place, Hellmuth, well-known for his incessant name dropping that is so blatant it is actually quite endearing, took to twitter to share pictures of himself with the various cast members inbetween shooting. Here is a tweet that shows Hellmuth with cast member Maggie Siff.

PIC: another cool girl on set SHO_Billions: Maggie Siff #Dominatrix#Billions#SonsOfAnarchy#WendyRhodes#MadMenpic.twitter.com/T8Te61LjiO

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) August 3, 2016

Fellow poker professional Brandon Cantu also revealed his presence on set as he disclosed he would be appearing in Billions too. He was not allowed to reveal in what capacity or for how long he would be appearing in the show but it is likely there will be a plotline where poker is introduced and Hellmuth and Cantu are seen at the tables. We could have a lot of fun speculating on what might happen but I really hope they get some dialogue away from the tables rather than just a couple of poker hands with some classic Hellmuth table talk. This depends on how ambitious the producers are with letting the players act.

Here is a photo posted by Cantu of him in make up. I literally mean makeup not in the context of having to pay a stake horse money money!

Doing filming for the show "Billions" 6AM NYC... Does this make me an official actor? pic.twitter.com/y3KRnWpZof

— Brandon Cantu (@brandoncantu) August 2, 2016

I have appeared in a UK series in 2011 called “Vera” and I spent all day on set for an appearance as an extra (no speaking role) which lasted all of 10 seconds or so when it eventually aired a year, so spending time on set is not proportionate to screen time. The scene may just be in passing but even so it is always fun to see poker players like Hellmuth and Cantu participate in mainstream shows, particularly if they do well and act well.

Phil Hellmuth will have been reassured to take part by the presence of Brian Koppelman, one of the co-writers of Rounders, who is also a co-writer for Billions. Koppelman’s influence should ensure that the poker scenes are authentic and not an abomination of the game as sometimes can happen in movies. Would it be possible for Hellmuth to impress enough for Koppelman to consider a cameo in Rounders 2, if the highly anticipated sequel ever comes to fruition? What about Hellmuth KGB, taking the place of Teddy KGB if John Malkovich cannot participate. I’m getting carried away, but it will be fun to watch his scene, which I imagine will also feature Cantu in some way.

Here is a photo posted by Brian Koppelman on Instagram of himself and Hellmuth on set.

phil_hellmuth killing it on the @sho_billions set (I outlasted him in impromptu tourney).

A photo posted by Brian Koppelman (briankoppelman) on Aug 4, 2016 at 4:00pm PDT

Both Brandon Cantu and Phil Hellmuth clearly enjoyed the experience and shared a photo of the cast and crew. Brandon enjoyed himself so much that his tweet is currently pinned to the top of his profile. I also laughed at how happy Hellmuth looks too, it’s clear he had a blast during shooting and I am sure he will have plenty to say when the episode is about to air.

What a great time working with the show Billions. @MalinAkerman@lewis_damian@KellyAuCoin77#billions#sho_billionspic.twitter.com/JVaO7NQkJ5

— Brandon Cantu (@brandoncantu) August 7, 2016

I remain hopeful that Mike Matusow, Shawn Sheikhan, Luke Schwartz and Tony G will be asked to be in a show at some point, but perhaps not at the same time unless that show is the UFC.