{"id":262,"date":"2025-07-23T10:18:41","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T10:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/?p=262"},"modified":"2025-07-23T10:22:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T10:22:02","slug":"opinion-hellmuths-tirade-of-misinformation-and-bad-takes-perfectly-shot-down-by-deserving-wsop-poy-champion-shaun-deeb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/23\/opinion-hellmuths-tirade-of-misinformation-and-bad-takes-perfectly-shot-down-by-deserving-wsop-poy-champion-shaun-deeb\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Hellmuth\u2019s Tirade of Misinformation and Bad Takes Perfectly Shot Down by Deserving WSOP POY Champion Shaun Deeb"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post Opinion: Hellmuth\u2019s Tirade of Misinformation and Bad Takes Perfectly Shot Down by Deserving WSOP POY Champion Shaun Deeb<\/a> appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Begrudgery\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Begrudgery is a toxic combination of jealousy, spite, and festering resentment. It raised its ugly head today when Phil Hellmuth lambasted the World Series Of Poker\u2019s 2025 Player Of The Year (POY) contest. In a tirade filled with misinformation and bad takes, the self-styled Poker Brat criticised the mechanism by which points are earned and in doing so, took more than a swipe at the accomplishment of this year\u2019s very deserving winner Shaun Deeb.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Hellmuth opened by saying that \u201cthe rules are messed up\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Calling it his \u2018bone to pick,\u2019 Hellmuth opened by saying that \u201cthe rules are messed up\u201d and \u201cI don\u2019t think any professional poker player believes the right person won Player of the Year.\u201d In his next breath, he referred to a conversation that he had with Daniel Negreanu who he must not regard as a professional poker player because Negreanu\u2019s take was that Deeb was deserving.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deeb won a bracelet in the $100,000 PLO Highroller, came runner-up three times, and had a third-place finish at this years WSOP or as Hellmuth called it \u201cblah, blah, blah, blah, blah, bullsh*t.\u201d If five top 3 results in a Summer is bullsh*t, I wonder how he would review his own campaign consisting of one final table and one third place finish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hellmuth\u2019s argument<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On July 17th, Hellmuth posted a congratulatory tweet to Deeb:<\/p>\n

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The @WSOP<\/a> \u201cPlayer of the Year\u201d is @shaundeeb<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Shaun had a fantastic year, and held off @BennyGlaser<\/a> (who won 3 Bracelets!) and @TheGrinder44<\/a> (who won 2 bracelets in the 2 MOST prestigious events: Players Championship AND Main Event)<\/p>\n

Those 3 guys all had a phenomenal 2025 WSOP! pic.twitter.com\/MkmlPvv8gW<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) July 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

However, it now appears that there may have been sarcasm in that message as subsequent replies and now this video make his true feelings pretty clear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The crux of Hellmuth\u2019s argument, which is a generous definition of what it was, is that Benny Glaser, who won three bracelets, and Michael Mizrachi, who won the two most prestigious tournaments at the Series, are both more deserving. Those are both extraordinary feats and worthy of all the plaudits that they receive. However, neither man accumulated as many points across a best-10 sample. This is what the POY is judged on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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the video containing the lie is still going viral<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hellmuth then made the bogus claim that Deeb is involved in how the POY is conceived, that he is \u201cwriting the rules.\u201d He has since apologised for that false statement but has not removed the video which makes it. That\u2019s not good enough as the video containing the lie is still going viral and his frankly lack-lustre retraction video is likely to be seen by a fraction of the numbers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hellmuth\u2019s pursuit of notoriety<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There is another way to look at this outburst from Hellmuth. It could just be the next in an ever-growing line of \u2018attention-seeking, look at me being controversial\u201d videos. From Ike Haxton\u2019s medical mask to insincere threats to boycott the Main Event to whatever the f*ck this year\u2019s entrance to the Main Event was, Hellmuth is certainly starting to wreak of desperation in the pursuit of notoriety.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, he has always been a bit of a cringey caricature and pantomime villain but, in recent years, it\u2019s started to hit different. There was a nastiness to his targeting of Haxton, a Janus-faced quality to his Main Event embargo, and now a caustic and rancorous aspect to this attack on Deeb.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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the players going for POY should optimise for structure<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Whether the POY formula is right or wrong, whether it rewards one thing more or less than it should, it doesn\u2019t actually matter. The fact that it\u2019s locked in means that the players going for POY should optimise for structure and that is what Deeb undoubtedly did, just as he did when it placed a larger emphasis on volume.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deeb calls out Hellmuth for spreading lies<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Deeb responded with a superb post four hours after Hellmuth\u2019s original video, which begins with him addressing the \u201cmisinformation floating around\u201d with regard to his involvement in the POY formula, a formula which has arguably been changed to specifically limit his chances of winning. Deeb elaborated:<\/p>\n

\u201cI play more events at the WSOP than almost anyone, year after year. The old system favored players like me who put in massive volume. The new cap flattened the field \u2014 and I still came out on top.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Deeb also dismissed Hellmuth\u2019s claim that no professional players believe that the right person won. \u201cThat\u2019s just false,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019ve had overwhelming support from players who understand the structure and saw the grind firsthand.\u201d He is correct about that. The vast majority of players respect how WSOP POY and any other poker leaderboard reward volume, consistency, and a body of results.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deeb earned it<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If the formula needs tweaking, then change it for next year, but don\u2019t undermine the accomplishment of the person who won it fair and square, the person who showed up every day to grind with its particularities in mind. That\u2019s the definition of bad sportsmanship. That\u2019s the definition of begrudgery. Deeb even acknowledged that the formula could be adjusted:<\/p>\n

\u201cIs the system perfect? No. It still needs work. I\u2019d gladly help improve it \u2014 even if it means lowering my future chances.\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

Deeb is genuine here and on this, and his entire statement, he received the endorsement of last year\u2019s POY champion Scott Seiver:<\/p>\n

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I word for word co-sign every single thing Shaun wrote here. Anyone complaining both has no idea what the system is and also has no idea what they would make the system to have their preferred outcome actually happen.
Shaun loves this race so much that he is constantly willing\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/BbCtl1ueAn<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Scott Seiver (@scott_seiver) July 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

There is nobody in poker quite like Shaun Deeb. He is a singular entity in our game, who will go down as one of the greats. His accomplishments are many and this particular achievement is up there with the best of them. It should be in no way overshadowed by two other phenomenal performances by two other greats of the game. It should be celebrated without caveat and his own words should be allowed to resonate loudly:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been chasing this for years. Every summer, same mindset: show up, play everything, let the score take care of itself\u2026 [The POY] rewards steady results across the entire series \u2014 not popularity, not narrative\u2026 I didn\u2019t win it in a vacuum. I earned it \u2014 one table, one day, one hand at a time.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

He certainly did.<\/p>\n

The post Opinion: Hellmuth\u2019s Tirade of Misinformation and Bad Takes Perfectly Shot Down by Deserving WSOP POY Champion Shaun Deeb<\/a> appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The post Opinion: Hellmuth\u2019s Tirade of Misinformation and Bad Takes Perfectly Shot Down by Deserving WSOP POY Champion Shaun Deeb […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial-gaming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":263,"href":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions\/263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xandervolpek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}