The organizers of the WSOP have announced a new discipline system that could get serious consequences for Hellmuth during the tournament. Players can now be warned or punished if they do not behave themselves. The punishments can be a either a one-hand or one-round suspension.
Phil Hellmuth won the WSOP in 1989 and holds 11 individual title bracelets and is one of the most decorated players in the game but he is also the main reason for the new disciplinary program. Last year the “Poker Brat” seriously crossed the line with an outburst and a verbal attack at another player during a $400.000 pot in the Main Event he was bluffed out of. Hellmuth called the relatively unknown opponent “an idiot” and “the worst poker player in history”. World Series of Poker officials issued a warning back then, but to prevent the same situation from happening again a new set of rules have been applied. The poker community thought that Hellmuth was given special treatment and a lot of players doubted that an unknown player would have gotten of as easy a Hellmuth did. Jeffrey Pollack, World Series of Poker Commissioner said. "After the episode with Phil, we reviewed our system of warnings and penalties". The organizers intend to monitor the players during the tournament so there will be no taunting or bad behavior at the tables during the tournament. Pollack commented: "We saw a couple of things we weren't too pleased with or proud of. Some changes needed to be made. Our intention is to make sure that the behavior of a few does not impact the experience of the many”. The tournament officials will keep a journal to log all of the warnings and penalties given to the players to make sure that the appropriate punishment is given. There is no news about an appeal system if a player feels that a punishment was unfair.
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