Editor's pick

Phil Hellmuth teaches poker Karate-style

Review

Many consider Phil Hellmuth to be the world's greatest No-Limit Hold'em player but after taking his Ultimate White to Black Belt Poker Course it's probably safe to say he's not the world's greatest teacher.

The course takes place over a series of three- to 10-minute long videos which feature Hellmuth in all his glory musing on poker. You can purchase the course by each individual "Belt" (they cost anywhere from $9.95 to $79.95, with the White Belt being the cheapest and Black the most expensive) or you can buy the entire course outright for $149.95. They are available for download at the iAmplifyStore.

A word of warning to anybody prepared to plunk down the $150 for the whole course expecting to learn Hellmuth's patented No-Limit Hold'em tournament game: it's mostly focused on Limit Hold'em cash games.

While Limit Hold'em ring games are a great place to get started, it's a bit strange in this case because Hellmuth is not known for his cash game. Some famous players, such as Mike Matusow, have even ridiculed his non-tournament play.

In any case, the format of the videos is very straightforward. Every episode features Hellmuth by himself at a poker table in a darkened room doling out his poker knowledge.

Well, Hellmuth isn't completely alone - he's got a cardboard cut-out and a bobblehead doll, both in his image. That's three times the Poker Brat! It's also indicative of the production values that went into making the course.

Multiple camera angles are used, no doubt to spice up the presentation, but the frequent shifts in perspective just come off as amateur and distracting.

In the video Hellmuth is reminiscent of the awkward, slightly goofy science teacher you had in high school, except you don't learn as much and he has more of an ego.

Many times during the course Hellmuth will just start talking about himself, ad-libbing on topics such as how good a player he is and how much money he has.

While Hellmuth is performing his monologue during every video, text frequently pops onto the screen giving the watcher such stellar advice as "Raise the blinds in late position to steal the blinds." Well geez, thanks for that gem. Here's another: "Pay attention to opponents' chip stacks." Wow, that's a good one too.

At times the course seems incomplete and rushed. For example, the White Belt section consists of seven videos while the Yellow is five and the Purple only two. Amazingly, the Purple Belt segment is one of the most expensive at $19.95 if you buy it separately. Buy the White Belt course first to see what you think, but be warned that the later Belts do not have nearly as much content.

Oddly, Hellmuth includes some extra advice for players that has nothing to do with poker. Some of the random topics include hot clubs, good restaurants and how to invest in the stock market. Even more of these "extras" are included in the Bonus Blast segments you get when you buy the full course.

Sometimes, watching these videos, it feels like the producers set the camera on a tripod and just let Hellmuth muse on whatever topic he chose without any guidance, or editing, whatsoever.

During video five of the White belt course Hellmuth introduces the viewer to something called "Phil's Animals." He reels off a list of animals like the mouse, elephant, lion, jackal and eagle, which all represent player descriptions. He also acts each one out, yielding some of the most surreal and hilarious moments in the series. As a teaching aid, however, this taxonomy seems very juvenile; it's not hard to think of any number of better ways to characterize player types.

Toward the end of the course Hellmuth starts getting philosophical and lets the audience know that it's important to have goals. One of his goals is to make over $100 million a year. Not sure exactly what people who are taking the course are supposed to do with that information but it's definitely included.

In closing it's hard to recommend Phil Hellmuth's Ultimate Poker Course. If you want to learn the game of poker you're probably better off reading tried, tested and proven books like Harrington On Hold'em, Super/System or even Poker for Dummies if you are very green. If you would prefer an educational video then you're probably better off with Annie Duke's or Phil Gordon's DVDs.

Then again, if you're a huge Hellmuth fan and you'd like to hear him banter for four hours on poker and life then by all means pick up Phil Hellmuth's Ultimate White to Black Belt Poker Course.

Details:

• $149.95
  iAmplify
  240 minutes