Phil Hellmuth is an ass. This has been said before here, on television, on countless blogs, and probably by most of the women he has dated in his life. None of this matters to Phil; he knows he’s an ass. He also knows that he has 11 WSOP bracelets, millions of dollars, a wife and kids who tolerate him, and millions of players who would like nothing better than to wife the smug look off his face. In that last bit we see the brilliance in being Phil.
People hate Phil Hellmuth, or they love to hate him; how can you really hate someone you don’t know? They hate his persona though, and those who find themselves at a table against him would consider it a big feather in their cap to take a boat load of chips from the poker brat. To that end they will often take chances they otherwise wouldn’t take. If they are successful, he will reward them with a tantrum, some profanity, and more than one reference to a donkey.
I don’t know if that is the persona he deliberately crafted for himself, but by painting a really big, obnoxious target on his own back, he gets people to openly make mistakes and take big chances just to beat him. It often has nothing to do with the chips or the money; people just want to beat Phil.
If you are someone who doesn’t mind being disliked, this is actually an effective strategy. If people perceive you are a jerk, they will go way out of their way to beat you. That might mean playing longer odds, or hands they otherwise would fold. There is money in being an ass (the success of the hip hop industry proves this). This is just a strategy that most folks with a soul shy away from.
