Archive for February, 2011

You would be forgiven for wondering what Full Tilt Poker and George W Bush have in common; the answer to this question is nothing, zip, zilch; other than Phil Hellmuth! Yup – he is the common denominator, but doesn’t get much more complex than that, we are just going to chat about a couple of poker stories in the news. And no, you don’t have to worry; Phil Hellmuth is not the new front-man for GWB and GWB is not seeking another term in office. Although the way things are looking it is possible that talks with Full Tilt may see them with a new big name poker front-man – or maybe not?!

Phil Hellmuth who has recently become the ex-face of UB Poker, could be looking for a new online poker site to call home. We thought that the new WSOP site would be a perfect fit, but have seen no moves in this direction to date. Hellmuth tweeted that he met Full Tilt at the SW Steakhouse bar at Wynn…this was a few weeks back and reactions have been mixed. Full Tilt is only the second largest online poker site and Mr. Hellmuth is known for wanting to be top dog. He certainly may not stand out if he has to take second place to Phil Ivey. According to Annie Duke who was on the billboard with Hellmuth at UB, and resigned from the site at the same time, she will not be signing with another online poker site.

There is also another factor; Full Tilt does not allow its stars to appear on Poker Stars sponsored shows such as Fox’s “Big Game” and GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” and Hellmuth fans as well as Hellmuth himself, may not like this very much. He is popular on these shows and appears to enjoy throwing his money and his weight around in them. Hellmuth has however said that he will also be talking to Pokers Stars, Bodog and whatever sites catches his eye. He believes that Poker Stars would be a good fit, but he will take the deal that makes the most sense; this is not only about money he also has to fit with the brand.

As far as meeting George W Bush is concerned, Phill Hellmuth was recently in Dallas for the Super Bowl XLV. After watching the Green Bay Packers conquer the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25, he stopped by the Southern Methodist University to chat with the ex- U.S. President. He tweeted that after meeting Garth Brooks and running back Reggie Bush earlier in the day he met GW Bush and gave him a signed book and beer at his library at SMU. He also met Condoleezza Rice and found GW to be witty and engaging, particularly when he tucked the signed copy of his book into his inside jacket pocket! Photos were taken which gave rise to a few snappish comments from the big mouth poker pro Tony G, who then initiated a caption contest for the 11 times WSOP bracelet winner and GW Bush pics.