A poker interview with Phil Helmuth

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Serious Poker Advice from Phil Hellmuth
LAST UPDATE: 10/23/2005 10:16:39 AM
Posted By: CyberBob
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By Dale Blasingame
VegasInsider@woai.com

Wow.

Did you catch the show Phil Hellmuth put on at the World Series main event this year? ESPN aired Mount Hellmuth's eruption this past Tuesday. It was the "Poker Brat" at his finest. At one point, he even asked an opponent if he knew how to spell poker.

Not all that unusual if you've followed Hellmuth's career. Fortunately, I got a head's up to watch the episode from the man himself, just four days earlier.

Yes, I partied with Phil Hellmuth last Friday night. It was up in Austin... and I guess I didn't really party WITH Phil. I was AT a party with Phil. It was thrown by Green Tie Poker and featured a seminar by the nine-time world champ.

The funniest part? Hellmuth came dressed as Phil Hellmuth. Black windbreaker (it was 85 degrees outside), headphones (it was inside a loud bar) and sunglasses (yeah, the bar was dark).

In real life, Hellmuth's a cool guy. He was funny, sarcastic and, of course, he knows his poker. After giving the crowd of about 250 some great insight into his victory at the Heads Up Championship (seen on News 4 WOAI), he took a few questions.

First topic: How do you build your bankroll to become a professional player?

Phil's key - don't go crazy.

"I think the way to do it is to start in a very small game. That's the way I did it," Hellmuth said. "I would play a $0.50 ante, no-limit hold 'em game. I could just sit there and wait forever. I was in the position where $20 meant a lot to me. The guys at the table...$20 didn't mean anything to them. So I would just sit there and very patiently build my bankroll. All of a sudden, I'd be up $300 or $400 and I'd have all that in front of me and they'd want it match it because it didn't matter to them. So I'd play a patient game and I'd play in situations where I could afford to wait. I think too many people bust themselves in one day, one month or maybe a two month period. You should never lose all your money in a one month time frame. Yet many people do it in one week or one day. Playing professional poker is not easy. I've been very blessed and very lucky and I have a good constitution for it. When I got low on money, I didn't start doing drugs or drinking or freak out. I always thought 'there's this really bright future coming.' I could really see it. So I could be depressed in the moment or I could be really happy about this wonderful future coming. I kind of like having a little pressure on me, so I have a good temperament to do this. You have to build your money slowly at first. Then you work your way up the limits. If you're a great player, you're going to get to the biggest games, don't worry. Some people try to take shortcuts and never make it there. Work your way up and as you get to each level or limit, make sure you're learning new things."


Play poker with Phil Helmuth at UltimateBet.com!!!

Second topic: Ever wonder what kind of cash games the top pros play?

Let's just say they're games I will probably never see in my lifetime.

"In Aruba, we were playing $200-$400 triple draw 2-7. It's a low-ball game that's been all the rage among the high-end players," Hellmuth said. "I also played no-limit hold 'em down there and won like $16,000 an hour. I should have won more but I folded a winner for a lot of money."

Third topic: What's the difference between online and real-life tournaments.

Obviously... there are plenty.

"The ultimate in fast is probably the online, ten-player tournament. The ultimate in slow is the main event of the World Series of Poker," according to Hellmuth. "So you have ten minutes versus ten days. A big difference, right? There's also about 5,500 more people at the World Series. So it changes your strategy. Online you can take a lot more chances. You can be very aggressive and play more big pots. You know, you have to be lucky at some point in an online tournament. You might wait for KQs and put it all in and hope your opponent has KJ or AJ and you can outdraw them...where in the real world you can just sit there and fold forever. Slow tournament...play slow. Fast tournament...play fast. I have fun at both. I wish we had a World Series of Poker every day, especially since Chan and Doyle got #10 and I didn't."

Final topic: How can you tell when someone is bluffing?

Phil's answer - It's all in the body language.

"It does seem like amateurs, when they miss the flop, they lean back in their chair," said Hellmuth. "When they hit the flop, they lean forward. As if, 'I hit it, I'm getting ready to act,' as if, 'I missed, I'm getting ready to fold.' You would think people would be able to crack that, right? We act the same way as monkeys...when they do the tests and the studies. It's really ingrained in us. I talked to an expert with the FBI and he told me it's impossible to bluff and do this (makes steeple formation with his hands in front of his mouth). If you're going to bluff and you're going to do the steeple, it's impossible without your mouth moving. I tried it...and I think I was able to bluff with the steeple. But the day I figured that out, which was two months ago, I went to the Bicycle Club and every time I bluffed like that and they folded even quicker. So there's something there in their mind. I'm giving them a false tell...so that's a really good one."

Listen: Q&A with Phil Hellmuth


After the seminar and Q&A session, Hellmuth stuck around and played in a shootout with some players who qualified online.

My advice? Take the Hellmuth you see on TV with a grain of salt. He himself even admitted this "bad boy of poker" persona has earned him millions and millions of dollars in endorsements. Sure, he's an emotional guy and those outbursts probably aren't planned. But in person, Phil Hellmuth comes across as a good guy... and we all know he's a hell of a poker player.