Phil Hellmuth aka Poker Brat, has come under fire for publicly bragging about how much he makes for charity – claiming he has raised $54million through his MC work…
I’ve raised $54 million MCing charity poker tourneys. The ave raise is $500,000 a night. I charge $25,000 for 65% of events: 35% I do for free. My corporate rate is $50,000 a night. I’m told that when my name is added they make $300,000 more. I’m proud of my charity work!! https://t.co/lF7CnL1L8Y
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) 10 January 2019
The Twitter spat has seen friends, fans and foes of the 15-time WSOP bracelet winner taking to the Twittersphere to support and condemn his bragging in equal measure. Hellmuth himself rather strangely retweeting some of the opposition posts!
EVERYONE LOOK AT ME !!!!!
Doing charitable things (including raising / help raising $54m) shouldn’t be about self promotion you whopper
— Steve Craven (@SteveCraven1) January 10, 2019
…although he has some well-connected and much-respected defenders offering him some advice on the matter of bigging himself up in such a delicate area.
Just change it to “I’ve helped raise” and then it is a great story Phillip. I’ve said it for years that no one person has helped raise more for charity through poker tournaments than you and deserve a lot of credit for doing so. #Bravo pic.twitter.com/yHCTIZcZ2K
— Matt Savage (@SavagePoker) January 10, 2019
Hellmuth has always been one of the most outspoken pros among the superstars of the game. Often seemingly unaware that his self-promotion also drives people away in droves…
Phil is represented by an agency that gets him large appearance fees for hosting charity tournaments. Then he acts like he personally raised all the money himself, frequently bragging about the total sum raised across all events.
— Thomas Keeling (@SrslySirius) January 10, 2019
That being said, as many have argued the big man’s appearance at charity nights, regardless of his fee, provides a massive boost to the money-raising powers of the event.
You should check his numbers guy. Every event he does raises a sh*t ton of money. This is worse than Chuck and Nancy’s response to president Trump on Tuesday. Go away you’re fake news.
— american father (@theland330) January 10, 2019
The charity argument almost reached the level of ‘Fake News’ as Phil Hellmuth tried to rebuff and refute every comment about his boasting…
There are a couple hundred negative tweets (some by people I respect), many of them w misperceptions about me, and my charity work. I want to show the truth about who I am: I will not allow the “haters” to construct a false narrative. I will fight for myself and the truth!! https://t.co/tUEQhdiLj0
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) January 10, 2019
…and needless to say, with an ego the size of Texas it wasn’t long before ‘Phil for President’ images were appearing on the back of his less-than-selfless commitments…
He's American as apple pie & a GREAT M.C.
Haters will hate, critics will criticize, WINNERS WILL WIN Phil! #Positivity pic.twitter.com/9RCZmm0kE2— 💎DIAMOND DAVE'S FINE ART♠️/ Dave Schillaci (@KingKOMBAT) January 11, 2019
…Hellmuth naturally happy to retweet the horrendous artwork and idea, oblivious to large chunks of the poker community being against his bragging.
Perhaps someday Hellmuth will manage to do all his good work without the need to be so horribly self-absorbed about it all. In the meantime, MC PokerBrat will continue raising for charity… and raising for Phil Hellmuth.
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