They Think They’re Good – Mediocre Players Who are Full of Themselves

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Poker is chock full of players who think they are geniuses. The reality remains, however, that most of these players are complete idiots. After all, most geniuses do not profess their talents. Look at Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan for examples. Both players are among the top in the world, but neither is obnoxious or unruly at the tables. When you look at these players, though, all that you will hear is never-ending babble. Tony G, Mike Matusow, and Phil Hellmuth are three of the most well-known players who do nothing particularly well. It has worked for them because they are now TV poker celebrities. If you really pay attention though, it’s quite clear that these guys are nothing special.

You can’t necessarily blame these players for running their mouths. They clearly just want attention when they are playing poker; attention that their play wont be able to garner on its own. This attention and TV time has parlayed itself nicely into major poker site contracts. Phil Hellmuth has been the long-time spokesman for UltimateBet, Mike Matusow is one of Full Tilt Poker’s most popular (infamous?) pros, and Tony G is just a general waste of space on any televised poker show, particularly in Europe. Sure, they are idiots and are sub-par players, but I suppose they are laughing all the way to the bank.

It can be difficult to determine whether a player is seriously delusional about their abilities or if they are putting on an act. To this day, no one truly knows if Phil Hellmuth really takes himself seriously. Well, Phil knows, but it isn’t likely that he reveals his true identity any time soon. These loud mouth players have built their entire brands around how they act at the tables, so it is too late to abandon this role now. Matusow and Hellmuth have both gone through phases where they promised to work on their behavioral and emotional control, but they always revert back to their childish antics. As annoying as these players might be, there is no denying that they have helped to make poker what it is today.

Phil Hellmuth

Phil Hellmuth is the most comical of this group, if only because his rants are always laughable. Who else can claim that they would “win them all if it wasn’t for luck?” No one except Hellmuth, obviously. He gets berated by fellow pros and amateurs alike, and with good reason.

When poker was still in its early days, many players either ignored or were intimidated by Phil Hellmuth. These days, however, few players take Hellmuth’s crap. Name poker pros like Daniel Negreanu have publicly called him out and have even gone as far as to tell Hellmuth how bad he is on national TV. If that won’t put Hellmuth in his place, nothing will. Oh well, there is a reason he is called the “Poker Brat.”

Tony G

Tony G is the worst player out of this lowly crowd. You won’t find him winning in the biggest games in the world, either online or offline. At least Hellmuth and Matusow have their moments where they play decent poker. For Tony G, a poker table means an opportunity to talk, talk, talk. Many people have speculated that Tony G only acts this way when the cameras are on, but this just makes him a bigger idiot.

For the most part, the most popular poker players are those who can appeal to the masses without changing their normal, everyday character. That would be why Jamie Gold has few fans and Phil Ivey is the most popular player in the world. Tony G is a fake, he overestimates his skills, and he is lucky he fell into the poker scene at just the right time,

Mike Matusow

Mike Matusow was doomed from the start, with a name like “The Mouth” it is hard to stay quiet. Like Hellmuth, Matusow has gone through spurts where he works on controlling his temper and mouth at the table. He has done a better job than Hellmuth on occasion, but he still talks way, way too much.

In fact, he complained about how poorly he performed in 2009. Does that sound like a player who should be boasting or bragging? Absolutely not, but maybe if he spent more time working on his game and less time talking, his results would improve.

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Written by Jonathan Wanchalk on October 15th, 2010