Playing poker can be a rollercoaster of emotions, from elation when you win a tournement to dispair at losing a big pot to a bad beat, but in general it’s good to keep your emotions in check. Going “on tilt” when you get unlucky not only tends to give away tells to the other players at your table, but also often clouds your judgement and causes you to make bad decisions.
Well it might be true that going on tilt, and letting your anger out is#and going crazy at the tables. Here are 10 of the best (worst!) examples of players going on tilt, blowing up, trash talking, or just plain cau#
10. Phil Hellmuth is on tilt at the WSOP 2025 Main Event
Well any list of this type just have to have “The Poker Brat” Phil Hell#s for! Sure it was a bad beat, but you can tell how predictable Phil’s blow-ups are by the commentator’s “Meltdown in 3, 2, 1…”
#9. Mike Matusow vs Sheikhan – World Series of Angry Poker
Mike Matusow is another pl#ct it was another player, Sean Sheikhan, who started the problems here by jumping out of his chair and slamming the table on the flop, indicatin#usow immediately jumps in to the fray, and both players end up with a 10 minute suspension from the game – a great example of how NOT to act during a poker tournament!
8. Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott loses on Late Night Poker
OK here’s another player as famous for how he handles bad beats as he i#s is a perfect example of his bad luck – a player badly played A6 and ended up in the pot with Ulliott all-in with pocket aces. Of course he ge#’m quitting poker I swear to god” and “I wish I had gone out earlier now, with the ace ten”. To be fair he handles himself very well, but he is seriously unhappy!
7. Phil Hellmuth Explodes- World Series of Poker 2025
Well we’re back with the poker brat again, and this time he’s in a pot with one of his students, but just can’t believe that he “called a raise with queen-ten offsuit” and cries out “oh my god in heaven!!”
6. Mike “The Mouth” lives up to his name
##Here’s another example of Mike Matusow fuming after losing a huge pot and just keeps repeating “you don’t know how bad I run at poker” and “I’m the unluckiest player in poker!”
5. Freddy Deeb losing his temper!
So far we’ve seen people losing it in tournaments, but here’s an example of someone losing thir temper in a cash game. It starts as a joke, but obviously Deeb can’t take a joke and it all blows up!
4. The”Poker Brat” being bratty again!
Here’s Hellmuth again, this time he’s been running bad and he’s got a decision to make an asks the players to be quite, but then he throws his toys out of the pram and starts complaining and saying he won’t play again, mouthing off with comments like “I’m not playing anymore is that’s how it’s going to be” and “shut the **** up” and eventually mucks his cards and storms off – the true poker brat!
3. Tony G – crazy player with a BIG mouth!
Normally people jump around mouthing off when they lose a pot, but Tony G needs no such excuse. Here we see him going all-in with the worst of it and getting called, and then outrawing his opponent after which is jumps up and runs around shouting “they cannot fold hands these guys” and “I knew it was coming”. Fuat Can’s reaction is “what a joke” and I have to agree!
2. Mike Matusow emotionally gets busted from the WSOP
Well here’s a perfect example of just how emotional poker can be, with Matusow all-in, dominating his opponent but getting outdrawn. He busts out on the river, and ends up screaming and in tears as his tournement is over! His comment of “why do I have to do this to myself, I must be the sickest person in the world” says a lot about how he’s feeling!
1. Can’t even SPELL poker!
Well I guess Hellmuth was always going to be number one in this list! This video really shows emotions running wild – in fact, Phil goes too far with his reactions, and is extremely disrespectful with comments such as “He called a raise with a queen-ten honey – idiot player!” – and then even worse “f***ing idiot”, then he has a go at the dealer, and “he probably can’t even SPELL poker!”. The poker brat truely lives up to his name!
BONUS VIDEO!
OK, I thought it would only be fair to show the other side of the coin. All of these guys (yes – even Tony G!) are superb poker players, even if they do lose their cool from time to time, so here’s a great example of the biggest poker brat of all, Phil Hellmuth, showing why he is one of the best players in the world!
