Hellmuth Reading Souls and Dodging Bullets Baby!
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With Phil Hellmuth making yet another deep run in a WSOP event, the railbirds have arrived en masse to sweat the Poker Brat.
We caught Hellmuth engaging Clyde Gaskins in a war of words while contesting a heads-up pot. The banter was friendly by Hellmuth's standards, but he was clearly trying to impose his will on Gaskins, an amateur playing in his first WSOP tournament.
After Gaskins raised Hellmuth's big blind, making it 8,000 more to go, Hellmuth stared the amateur down before deciding on a min-raise to 16,000. Gaskins, clad in a black cowboy hat but trying to play the hero to Hellmuth's villain image, began to ponder his options while Hellmuth began to turn the screws.
"Don't give it all to me sir" Hellmuth warned him, before adding with a smile "Actually, it's OK if you want to do that."
Eventually Gaskins settled on a call and the dealer spread a flop of 
across the felt. Gaskins was in the small blind and acted first, checking it with a knock of the table. After Hellmuth had cut out enough chips for a 12,000 bet, he slowly slid on his trademark black shades and resumed his death stare. The intimidation did not faze Gaskins and he came along, bringing the 
to the table on the turn.
After another check by Gaskins, Hellmuth aggressively stacked a bet of 24,000 and dropped it into the middle. The play sent Gaskins into the tank and he told the most famous poker player in the world "I ain't tryin' to put a bad beat on ya Phil!" before adding "I know ya gotta have queens or kings here."
Gaskins then asked the 11-time bracelet winner if he would show his cards in the event Gaskins folded. Hellmuth remained silent but nodded his approval to the agreement. After counting his own chips and looking over at Hellmuth's stack, Gaskins eventually found the fold button and tossed his cards in the muck.
With the railbirds standing on chairs to see the action, Hellmuth complied with the terms of his deal and showed Gaskins the monster he was representing: 
. The Poker Brat held just bottom pair on the turn with no draw to a flush. The amateur had obviously been bluffed out of his shows, but knowing that the deed was done by one of the best poker players on the planet soothed his pain. The friendly cowboy just grinned and offered a "nice hand sir" while Hellmuth did his best Cheshire Cat impression.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
205,000
174,000
|
174,000 |
|
||