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Poker pro Phil "Poker Brat" Hellmuth Jr., never one to shy away from controversy or worry about his image, will emcee a poker event hosted by a disgraced National Football League (NFL) player who was kicked out of football for gambling.
On his web log or "blog" (online diary) at www.philhellmuth.com, the 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet-winner wrote Monday that he will "probably" emcee a charity poker tournament in November in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, that is to be hosted by former NFL player Paul Hornung.
Hornung, 73, nicknamed "The Golden Boy," starred in college for Notre Dame and then in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers.
In 1963, Hornung and another NFL player, Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions, were kicked out of the NFL indefinitely by Commissioner Alvin "Pete" Rozelle for betting on NFL games and associating with so-called "undersirables."
The pair was reinstated by Rozelle a year later.
Surely Hellmuth must know of the scandal, yet he wrote Monday on his blog: "This week I was contacted by NFL legend Paul "The Golden Boy" Hornung, who asked me to emcee his poker tournament in Louisville on the weekend of November 7-8. He mentioned that (Mike) Ditka, Deacon Jones and a bunch of other NFL legends will be there, including a bunch of the Green Bay Packers legends. My dad is a big fan of Hornung, Ditka, the Packers legends and I'm sure a bunch of the other guys that will be there. I haven't decided yet to do the event, but my dad wants to go, so I probably will."
Good move, "Poker Brat."
You want desperately to be known as the best in the world in your gambling discipline-poker-and to reap the benefits that come with it, like having your image reproduced on a beer can for big bucks.
Yet you don't seem to care in the least about tarnishing your image by associating with a disgraced loser who did something so foul even the NFL couldn't tolerate it, and the NFL tolerates a lot.
What's next, Phil?
Hosting a gambling event for Pete Rose?
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Thomas Somach, www.pokerhelper.com
Originally published August 29, 2008 9:42 am EST
