Yesterday Pokernews wrote an article based on Dan Colman's post in twoplustwo where he criticized Phil Hellmuth:

"Its embarrassing that we have to share our profession with whores like this guy. After I win one drop, he immediately comes on stage to shake my hand in front of a camera and congratulate me. As if he's the gatekeeper to the poker world and welcoming me inside.

"It is truly pathetic that a 40 year old would behave the way he does at the table, not to mention how spineless he is, just willing to take any sponsorship regardless of the company's integrity. Hey, anything for a payday! Really makes me sad to think there's a chance some people may look up to this charlatan. People of his attitude and character are a cancer to this world."

I asked several regs if they agree with Dan's position:

Bryan 'PrimordialAA' Pellegrino: I mean I think it's aggro but sure, I don't think anybody who is a professional really looks up to Hellmuth. He's a TV character, good for fish/TV segments, but it doesn't mean he's great at poker, but I think the world needs both. People like Hellmuth grow the game by making new people interested in it and giving a "celebrity" quality that people can recognize. People like Dan grow the game by being one of the best and pushing the boundaries of what people thought was possible in terms of skill gap in HU SNG or live MTTs, and a lot of regs/pros look up to him. It's just different roles and I think both are needed for the game to stay as prosperous as it has.

Ryan 'Rypac13' Pachmayer: A lot of what Dan says rings true in my book. Hellmuth represented and allegedly was part of the original ownership group of Ultimate Bet and seemed to consistently look the other way as the site stole millions from players. People of Hellmuth's status in poker have the ability and power to change things (or at least make the public aware of the shadiness of poker sites like UB), but instead he cashed huge checks and acted like nothing was wrong. He essentially made millions off the theft of tens of thousands of players and that makes me lean more towards Colman's comments being correct. As far as Hellmuth's schtick, that is probably good for TV/relatively harmless. It's making money off the massive theft of players that doesn't sit well with me, and not taking any responsibility for being so closely associated with and profiting off that company.

roctill7: Sounded pretty harsh from Colman, but I love that guy. He may come up as an angry person, he probably is though in a sense, but can't blame a guy that stands up for his points. I don't think Colman is a bad guy, he may do statements and actions that are not understandable to many, but I think it's a way he expresses his feelings and point of view, and I like that. Is he a douche to make such statements? I don't think so, I think the opposite, love how he tries to bring awareness to the world about scummy things. I have to agree with Colman and his statement. I think what a lot of people are missing out here is how scummy the company Hellmuth worked for as a face was. So many got scammed by 10's if not 100's of millions and so many got their bankroll taken. Did Hellmuth know about anything that was going on in that company? Maybe he did, maybe he did not, we can probably just speculate. But again Dan is just trying to use his powers in media to bring awareness about scummy parts of the world that surrounds us.

emotionx: I think he's very spot on with some of the things he said about him. However it can't be denied that Phil indeed has attracted a ton of players to the game, which can be only good for poker. Sadly the best poker guys aren't usually promoting the game as much as people with low profile like Phil Hellmuth have. Sarcastically enough Dan Colman comes to my head as the perfect poker ambassador but he doesn't seem interested in that, so maybe his words were a little out of line considering this situation.

adamc1988: In what context was this written? Have they had some beef in the past? I don't think there's any need for Colman to say that, unless he's just wanting a reaction. No denying Hellmuth's an annoying character, but Colman doesn't come across too well himself...I don't see what he gets out of such a statement, if anything he just comes across brash.

Dan "Andrex Puppy" Heskett: I think Phil knows and understands better then almost anyone else that, in the modern era, getting TV time and making news in poker is a good thing. I can't comment on his sponsorship, as I don't know the details, but I think most poker players, when offered a lucrative sponsorship deal, wouldn't do that much background checking on the companies.

I really belive that Phil makes poker a lot more entertaining for the casual watcher of poker. Berating the players is childish, but draws people in and makes it more fun. When I first started out in poker, I watched as many vids as I could, and then once I found Hellmuth's vids, I watched mostly them for a while!

I got to meet Phil in London last year as I sold my ticket for the UKIPT heads up event to him. It was really cool to meet a guy that I had been following and watching vids of for all those years. I know everyone says that he's the nicest guy away from the tables, and to be honest my experience was no different. He even let me take 10% of his action for cost price which he offered just to be nice, as he knew I was disappointed about not playing and wanted to give me a sweat!

Also I'd like to point out as a professional it's rare I go a whole day and don't get called an idiot by someone. Why just because he's a pro should we hold him to differant standards?