bjournal::juxtapoz

I’m not one to make snap judgements, but that’s exactly what I am going to do here.

I watched one hand of professional poker on TV tonight (I was in the middle of doing other things, and it just happened to catch my eye). Phil lost on a flush-draw, and then made scathing remarks about the opponent who just took his ass to the cleaners (with a pair of fives).

Phil Hellmuth is the paragon for everything that is wrong with America. In that hand, I could feel Phil’s perceived entitlement, his arrogance, and his willingness to offer an incorrect opinion and be inconsiderate to dissent. Just because he was playing his flush-draw correctly, and that pretty much the only thing that could beat him if he didn’t make his flush was a small pair, he felt that his opponent just roll over and cede to his awesomeness.

It was just one hand of poker, but Phil’s opponent didn’t roll over.