In a recent interview conducted during the World Poker Tour’s L.A. Poker Classic Main Event, the industry’s most notable free agent, former UB.com front man Phil Hellmuth, filled the community in on his current activities.
During play on Sunday, Matt Savage was able to corner the 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner. In a three-minute interview, Savage was able to draw a great deal of information regarding Hellmuth’s upcoming activities, including his future in the online poker world and a potential job with ESPN.
After Hellmuth had discussed a hand he had played to start the interview, Savage went for what would be the meat of his interview: “You’ve been hanging out with Howard Lederer and watching football and flying around with Joe Hachem and Daniel Negreanu. Tell us, is there a courtship going on?”
Hellmuth initially was coy about the meetings, saying, “It’s amazing we don’t talk more about poker sites. These are my friends and I like to hang out with these guys.” He admitted, however, that he has been fielding offers from “a lot” of online sites.
“For those that are expecting me to sign a quick deal, that’s not going to happen,” Hellmuth stated in the interview. He did give a timeframe for when a potential deal would come together, saying, “I don’t think that I will sign (with a site) until April.” Hellmuth did not indicate which site was currently the frontrunner in these discussions.
As the interview drew to a close, Savage asked, “Any news on ESPN and your opportunities with them?” Hellmuth responded, “Nothing I can announce yet. People are speculating that I might be a new ESPN commentator (for poker broadcasts), but that’s just a lot of speculation at this time.”
The potential for Hellmuth to join the ESPN broadcast crew would be a monumental shift in the cable sports network’s presentation of poker. Since 2003, Lon McEachern and Norman Chad have held the fort for ESPN’s presentation of the WSOP and other events. Hellmuth has previously commentated on poker during ESPN’s pay-per-view and ESPN3.com broadcasts with mixed results from fans.
A thread on the TwoPlusTwo forum has exploded to nearly 100 posts, with most stating Hellmuth would be a poor addition to ESPN’s broadcasts. “He was so bad on WSOP Live or whatever that was where nobody could stand to listen to him,” poster “gregorio” wrote in the thread. “MrFizzbin” went further, saying, “For all that is holy, this must be stopped!”
“obrastatus” agreed, but seemed to be reluctantly accepting the possibility when he added, “This would be awful. Every hand is about him and, if he gets bored, he just starts sharing unrelated anecdotes from his life. To top it all off, his analysis is bad. But, it obviously makes sense for both ESPN and Hellmuth, so I fully expect it to happen.”
One of the rumored activities that Hellmuth had previously discussed in several interviews has fallen by the wayside, however. The cast for the 12th season of ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” was announced yesterday without Hellmuth as a member. Instead, such celebrities as former Playboy Playmate Kendra Wilkinson, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, and World Wrestling Entertainment’s Chris Jericho were tabbed for slots on the show.
Enjoying Phil Hellmuth, had my doubts about him (sometimes negative)…NOT ENJOYING THE NON
SHOWING OF THE HOLE CARDS YOU ARE LOOSING VIEWERS….
Phil was the best commentator of the group of pros. Thank you for having him. He may be a better commentator and player. At least he is nicer.