Hoss_TBF talks about Hellmuth tantrum

Phil Hellmuth has 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, but it is perhaps his Poker Brat image that has done the most to make him such a well-known professional poker player.

It helps that the television cameras love a little drama at the poker tables, and Hellmuth is usually a good source of it with his tantrums and verbal abuse of players.

It's not just live events that get him going though.

Last week Matt "Hoss_TBF" Hawrilenko got a taste of the Poker Brat's antics at the online tables and posted the chat history in his blog March 11.

"It's funny. I get berated all the time, and it's usually the biggest donators in the game," Hawrilenko said. "In this case, it's no different. Getting berated generally makes me happy; it means I'll keep getting action for a while."

While sitting down at UltimateBet for some three-handed Limit Hold'em play with Hoss_TBF and turnthecaroff, Hellmuth gave Hawrilenko plenty to be happy about as he ranted and raved about their play.

The result was a $30k win from the session for Hawrilenko and plenty of fodder for his blog.

Once Hawrilenko posted the chat history, it became a hot forum topic online as other online players once again came down on Hellmuth for his antics.

One part of the chat that may seem all too familiar to people who've sat at a table with Hellmuth includes:

PHILHELLMUTH: moron gets every raise in when tiny favorite

PHILHELLMUTH: pathtetic play

PHILHELLMUTH: U horrible

PHILHELLMUTH: KK for me

PHILHELLMUTH: nice 3 bet

PHILHELLMUTH: this is ridiculous

PHILHELLMUTH: 6-5 vs KK

PHILHELLMUTH: y'all are so awful I feel like ****

Hawrilenko didn't let the trash talk get to him, though.

Happy to take Hellmuth's abuse for $30k profit.

"I honestly enjoy it," he said."Phil gives more ammunition for witty retorts than any trash-talker I've ever played with," he said.

As an example, during the chat Hellmuth says "I should have 50k right now," and Hoss_TBF responds with "Maybe if you'd started with 200k."

It's probably much easier to take the Hellmuth berating when you're on the winning side of the equation as well. Hawrilenko said he ended the session up $30k, though he's not sure what Hellmuth's total loss was.

Hawrilenko said that if trash-talking was just a part of Hellmuth's strategy at the tables, he'd probably be better off spending that time trying to improve his Limit Hold'em game.

"Now, I'm not nearly the PH expert that someone like Daniel Negreanu is, but I think in Phil's world everything revolves around Phil, so naturally Phil losing a pot is hardly conceivable," Hawrilenko said.

"The best example I can think of is this: Phil and I played a pot where he opened the bet with 88, I reraised from the [small blind] with Q-J, the [big blind] folded and Phil capped.

"The flop came J-9-4, and we capped it. We put a few more bets in on the turn and river and Phil flipped out about being cold-decked. I think only in Phil's universe can a coin flip be a cold deck, particularly when most of the action goes in when he's obviously way behind."

One interesting development after the chat history for the session hit the Web was Hellmuth's talk of a "New Phil" in his March 12 blog post.

"Why should I have any negativity in my life at all?" Hellmuth wrote. "I am already super super positive, but why not kick it up another notch?  The 'New Phil' will try his hardest to never berate another player again. It hurts them, and it hurts me when I get that emotional."

This isn't the first time Hellmuth has pledged to turn over a new leaf and change his image. He has expressed a few different times that he'd like to lose his brat image.

"I'm sure he could if he really wanted to, but he'd have to give it more than a superficial effort," Hawrilenko said.

So will the "New Phil" fizzle as fast as the "New Coke" did, or will Hellmuth create a new image for himself even if it means less TV time? Only time will tell.