Editor's pick

Hellmuth's Million-Dollar Tells Overinflated in Value

Product

Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Secrets to Bluffing and Tells by Masters of Poker

Hits

  • Gives the viewer a look into the life of poker superstar Phil Hellmuth
  • Easy to understand for beginners
  • Covers the most basic tells and bluffs

Misses

  • Provides little new information
  • Does not explain many advanced tells of bluffing techniques
  • Lacking in production value

Review

Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Secrets to Bluffing and Tells, another in the line of Masters of Poker how-to DVDs, features the brash - some might say megalomaniacal - pro, who invites the viewer to join him and pick his brain for his champion-level knowledge of bluffs and tells.

The information in the DVD draws heavily from Phil's experiences at the poker table. A fair amount of the running time is spent on anecdotes from his own life. Contrary to the implicit promise of the title, the bluffs and tells laid out here are not likely to help anyone win a million dollars. Most of the theories are very basic and appear in almost every other book and DVD on the subject.

As a result, this DVD is probably best suited for players unfamiliar to live play who want to start out learning about physical tells and bluffing techniques.

A lot of value could have been added had Masters of Poker poured a fraction of those millions of Hellmuth's into the production. The audio and video come off as amateurish. If you're going to feature a player of Phil Hellmuth's caliber, why not see to it that the production is first-rate too?

All in all, Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Secrets to Bluffing and Tells is another one of those poker DVDs that promise a lot but fail to deliver. For absolute beginners, there are worse choices when it comes to learning the basics of live play, but most other players would probably benefit from looking elsewhere.

Details:

  • $9.95
    Masters of Poker
    Series: Masters of Poker, Vol. 2, featuring Phil Hellmuth
    50 minutes