One of the most popular players in the game today, 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, has given those who couldn’t make their way to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities the opportunity to tour the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square in London and get personal with other poker pros through his Twitter account.
Hellmuth, who submits his tweets through the Twitter tag “Phil Hellmuth,” recently posted a four-minute twitvid that offers a look inside what has become one of London’s must-visit places for poker players. In the video, the “Poker Brat” serves as the travel guide for the viewer and, by the end, records two polarizing figures in the world of poker.
The video starts from his viewpoint in Leicester Square in London. Filmed before his triumphant entrance as Nero during the WSOP Europe Main Event, he points out that Leicester Square is the home of many historical statues, artists, and “stuff like that,” before strolling through the Square to the entrance of the Casino at the Empire. Strangely enough, and accurately pointed out by Hellmuth, the casino does not look out of place in a city that has been in existence for quite some time.
It takes approximately two minutes to get to the true meat of Hellmuth’s twitvid. As he strolls through the casino and reaches the poker arena of the Casino at the Empire, Hellmuth finds WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla sitting with Men “The Master” Nguyen and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. At this point, the twitvid takes off, as the duo espouse on some issues that are on their minds.
Hellmuth welcomes Nguyen to London, as “The Master” exhaustedly states that he just arrived in the U.K. after an 11-hour flight. The extremely jet-lagged poker veteran, who is one of the nominees for election into the Poker Hall of Fame, is hailed by Hellmuth as the “Vietnamese Godfather of Poker” and Hellmuth himself states that Nguyen will probably earn election into the Hall “within the next two to three years, if not this year.”
The conversation then turns to the always-entertaining Matusow, who definitely had some issues on his mind. Hellmuth notes that Matusow is upset that Team Americas captain Daniel Negreanu did not choose him for a spot on the Caesars Cup squad. “I’m not upset,” Matusow contends. “I can’t get upset over a f*****g farce.” Matusow continues on his rant when he notes, “When a 20 year-old is the captain of the European team and a 21 year-old Canadian is captain of an American team, why should I be upset?” Matusow is, in reality, good friends with Negreanu, who is actually 35.
The duo then continue their discussion when Hellmuth brings up the fact that Matusow had taken part in the Full Tilt Million Dollar Cash Game, a 24-hour ring game that was taped for television broadcast in Europe. Hellmuth says that Matusow walked away from the table – which included “November Nine” member Phil Ivey, former WSOP Player of the Year Allen Cunningham, former Main Event Champion Chris Ferguson, online legend Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Scandinavian superstar Patrik Antonius, and English poker star Andrew Feldman – with a $105,000 profit.
“It was without a doubt the toughest lineup I have ever played,” Matusow admitted. “I definitely brought my A+ game, not only because of the difficult table, but because no one would talk to me!” Hellmuth then reveals that he had been called on several occasions during the taping to provide a foil for Matusow, drawing laughter from all at the table.
Hellmuth has continued to post tweets during the run of the WSOP Europe. He can be found on Twitter under the moniker Phil Hellmuth.
