Finally Some Controversy

We’re nearing the end of the Main Event and things are getting exciting with Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth and PokerNews’ own Tiffany Michelle still in contention as we head into Day 6. If any of those three can make it until the end then it will be huge.
After the Main Event has been a little dull so far, finally some controversy has emerged. Firstly Tiffany Michelle is wearing Ultimate Bet logos, much to the disgust of the hierachy at PokerNews. Expect more to emerge from this story once she is eliminated and the PN bigwigs can move in for the kill.
The other controversy was something I was fortunate enough to witness first hand, blogging the feature table on Day 5. Phil Hellmuth was moved to the direct left of Mike Matusow for the final two hours of play as I sharpened my virtual pencil for plenty of fireworks between these two. Generally things were pretty quiet until the final hand of the day. Here how I saw it go down in the live reporting blog on PokerNews.com:
Sat Jul 12 2008, 23:39 PST | Posted by TassieDevil
Hellmuth Ends the Day With a Blow-up
Cristian Dragomir opened with a raise to 80,000 before Hellmuth made it 255,000 to go from the small blind.
“I hope he doesn’t have aces,” said Hellmuth as Dragomir asked for a count. After a few moments, Dragomir made the call.
They saw a flop of and Hellmuth checked to Dragomir, who thought for a moment before firing a healthy bet of 300,000. Hellmuth sighed in disgust before folding face-up on the table.
Matusow laughed and said to Dragomir to show the bluff, and Dragomir flipped ! Matusow and the crowd roared in hysterics as Hellmuth jumped out of his seat and stormed around the room berating his opponent for calling his reraise with ten high.
“Listen buddy, you’re an idiot!” screamed Hellmuth. “This is the Main Event and you are the worst player in history!” he continued as the crowd was loving every moment of the blow-up.
Dragomir’s entourage continued to cheer as Hellmuth continued the barrage. The TD stepped in and issued a warning to Hellmuth to settle down before Dragomir stood up out of his chair to put Hellmuth back in his place with a cry of, “Enough is enough!”
Fortunately for both players the clock ticked over to the end of the level, and the end of the day’s play to settle both players down. They eventually shook hands and began to bag up their chips as Mike Matusow summed up the situation best as he shouted, “Thank God for Phil Hellmuth! Thank God for Chris Moneymaker!”
What a way to end the day!
Further to this Hellmuth was awarded a one-orbit penalty which he will serve at the start of the day tomorrow! They say you always remember your first Hellmuth blow-up, and it was definitely a thrill. A highlight of an otherwise dull Main Event. Let’s hope he can go deep.