I'm a fan of the poker brat and I realize that most of his act is for his brand.
One thing which people don't realize about Hellmuth is he is a true table captain, even when he's just folding. He takes control of the dynamics of a table. Let me give an example based on my observations.
2008, about 80 people left in a $1,500 WSOP event and Hellmuth gets moved to my immediate left. Even though I had played with names before, this was pretty exciting. From the hand he arrived, Phil basically started supervising the dealer. If an all-in situation occurred, Phil confirmed the chip counts (mind you he wasn't involved in these hands). He also directed the dealer to pull chips into the pot if any sort of re-raise occurred in a hand. Basically he assumed a title role at the table, taking power where power normally wouldn't exist in the hands of a player. It was fascinating to watch and showed another facet of the game which I had not considered, one seemingly non-tangible.[/
I like Hellmuth, i find it hillarious when he gets crushed in the cash games
his antics are so funny, tony g seems to be the one guy who crushes him the most, tony g though i feel makes most of his money in other business ventures since he owns betting sportsbooks, stores, resort, and pokernews so he basically freerolls in poker since a while now, phil hellmuth to me is a true poker player