Phil Hellmuth has livestreamed for more than a dozen hours this week on BetRivers Poker, and he’s provided poker fans some entertainment and a glimpse into what the online poker site is all about.
The “Poker Brat” became an ambassador for BetRivers Casino in January. He spent much of his day on Wednesday and Friday grinding low-stakes and micro-stakes tournaments and cash games on Twitch, and although he didn’t earn any big scores, he came away impressed with what he saw from Pennsylvania’s newest poker site.
“BetRivers software, I’m surprised at how good it is. I watched (Phil Galfond) on it a few months ago, I’m surprised at how good it is. I like the numbers that tell you what percentage of hands you play, and what percentage of hands you three-bet,” Hellmuth told said.
“All the pros have that, so now it just levels the playing field,” he continued.
Hellmuth’s son, Phillip Hellmuth III, stepped in at times on Wednesday to livestream with his dad. The two competed against each other in some tournaments, and the younger Hellmuth got the best of it.
Cantu Clips Poker Brat
Hellmuth played dozens of tournaments ranging from freeroll to $100, along with some low-stakes cash games. In one $100 no-limit hold’em tournament, he reached the final table and only six players remained. And then he lost a frustrating hand to a friend, but didn’t know it until later.
Everyone folded around to the small blind — “Regina 1” — who min-raised to 6,000. Hellmuth, in the big blind with 7♠6♦, called. The flop came out 10♦6♣2♣, giving the 17-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner middle pair, a solid hand in a heads-up pot.
“Regina 1,” who had the bigger stack, continued with a bet of 9,490. Hellmuth, confident in his middle pair, moved all in for 42,772. The preflop raiser snap-called with K♣K♠, a superior pair. No help was given to the BetRivers ambassador and he was out in sixth place for $349.93.
“Come on, ‘Regina 1’ got me? What the f**k is that?” Hellmuth asked his Twitch audience. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Hellmuth crushed a bag of Sour Patch Kids to help lessen the sting of busting at the final table. But then he found out who “Regina 1” is when he received a call from his friend and fellow poker pro Brandon Cantu, who rubbed it in that he’d just busted the “Poker Brat,” apparently while playing from a bar.
“This guy at the club drinking busted me,” Hellmuth joked.
Hellmuth will stream again on Sunday, and he’ll be joined by Galfond, another high-profile BetRivers ambassador.