No one causes more of a scene when on tilt than Phil Hellmuth. An expletive-laden rant during last year's World Series of Poker certainly caused more than a few poker fans to raise the question of if the Poker Brat had gone too far.
However, a handful of F-bombs pale in comparison next to recent events from the Japan Gold Dragon in Osaka. Few details are known after a video surfaced over the weekend showing a disgruntled poker player attempting to flip the feature table on the live stream.
The Incident
The attempted table-flipping occurred on Day 2 of the Japan Gold Dragon in Osaka. Play was nine-handed less than five minutes into the final table before a man dressed in an orange hoodie approached the feature table. He lifted it into the air, attempting to flip it, but when he could not do so, he let go, and the table crashed to the floor.
Because of the incident, chips and cans of Red Bull had flown everywhere. One of the table's legs had buckled with a player forced to hold the table up. The remaining players, as well as the dealer and floor staff were stunned. All seemed at a loss at what to do, with floor staff attempting to retrieve chips that had fallen onto the floor.
The player in orange returned to exchange a few words with tournament staff before leaving, with the live stream cutting quickly away before any further incidents could occur.
Reaction
The live chat on the original YouTube video was instantly abuzz, with several people theorising as to the reason behind the rampage, and others reporting that the police were called after the incident, but this is unverified.
When the stream returned, there was also speculation that the cans of energy drink may have destroyed the RFID technology embedded in the table, but the stream continued without any further difficulties.
On Twitter, Munehiko Matsuyama tweeted that no further details about the incident will be released from the tournament organizer, but that according to social media the player in orange was not a player in the tournament, and the incident was caused by something unrelated to the tournament itself.
Read More: 5 Effective Ways to Reduce Tilt at the Micros
A Japanese Hellmuth?
Instantly, comparisons were drawn between this Japanese player and Hellmuth. Twitter user GreatScottTx said "Phil would only get a one orbit penalty for this," while all TouzokuKID could say was "FLOOR!!!!"
Hellmuth himself has said in the past that he's trying to tackle the Poker Brat side of his play, but that didn't stop him from "seething" after losing out to Nick Wright last year on Poker After Dark.
Tilt at the Table
This isn't the only recent incident of tilt at the table, with an episode of Hustler Casino Live last week also featuring Israeli Ron. No table flipping occured during the incident between Ron and his irate opponent, although a flew chips did go flying!
