There is a reason that professional wrestling incorporates the sort of storylines that traditionally appear on the cheesiest of soap operas into their programs. This is because once a month they have a pay per view where the bulk of these issues get settled. Without the dramatic tension of one wrestler sleeping with another’s wife, or using sleezy little surrogates as a means to a title shot, professional wrestling would just be bunch of large people hitting each other. Nobody needs to buy a pay per view to see that; all they need to do is throw a box of Hostess Twinkies into a Jenny Craig meeting and then step back and watch the carnage. While the World Series of Poker doesn’t force people to buy expensive pay per views in order to watch the action, they still have storylines. While theirs were created organically, unlike the script writer generated conflicts in the WWE, some of them are no less compelling, and many of them include Phil Hellmuth.
There are a few things that people will be watching for during this season’s WSOP. Obviously a big topic always centers around Phil Hellmuth’s quest for a 12th bracelet. It is almost a bigger story when he is eliminated, and people can talk about another opportunity that has been squandered by the Poker Brat.
There will obviously be drama whenever Phil is at the table with Daniel Negreanu. There has been a lot made of Daniel’s comments about Phil being outclassed at the WSOP. A lot of eyes will be on these two to see who turns out to be right. The new behavior rules will also be a reason to watch Phil. Last year he blew up at a player who bluffed him out of $400,000; calling the man an idiot and saying that the guy who bested him was the “worst player in the world.” This is something that will get him thrown out of a tournament this year. Folks will be watching Phil’s temperature gauge to see if it boils over and causes one of his famous meltdowns.
While very few of would want to live in a world that revolves around Phil Hellmuth, nobody will deny that the WSOP storylines that follow him are among the most intriguing. It will be one of the things that will keep most of us watching and keeping up with the events online.
