Phil Hellmuth, with the most WSOP titles in history, is heads up for a WPT title. But then he makes a no good, awful, terrible, very bad play. According to us. We break it down!
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Comments
Phil is making here one big mental mistake. He completely discounts any 54 from Art's range. And, as he does it, he obviously expects a check back on the river. In his mistaken world (where 54s of the world do not exist), the Art's river bet is sort of polarized. In Phil's mind Art ought to have a mediocre A (like A6 to A9) which are the only aces which would not 3bet on the flop. The only plausible value-bet here is A7. So, to Phil in really seems like A7 or nothing (jacks are checking back, other 7s are checking back, pocket pairs are checking back). That's why he check calls.
I think your on the money guys. I think Phil's decision making was through ego and not wanting to get bluffed.
Yeah, Phil does this stuff as an ego play. He wants to be able to show that he is a brilliant player. He wants to be admired so badly. He wants to be able to brag about a hero call more than he wants to win money.