The charismatic Phil Hellmuth   gave his fans many minutes of his time when he participated of «ask me anything» in the well known Reddit website where he talked about everything, without mincing his words, or the keys on the keyboard, more like it.

“Poker Brat” was extremely accomodating and answered many of the hundreds of questions that they sent him.

Here we have a some of the highlights:

What did you do to help Ultimate Bet users get back their money?

I was proud to have had a big role in forcing an investigation at UB, which led to $25 million being returned to the players. People said I should have left the site, and that would have been easy to do as I was wanted by Full Tilt. But I saw another pro get haunted for years because the site he repped DID NOT pay the players back. Staying was the right move, and I was happy when the players were paid back. I was also happy when evidence emerged a few years later that made it clear that I wasn’t aware of what was happening. The poker world stuck by, but the evidence was nice and completely shut up the haters

How has the game changed for the better and for the worse since online play has become less  prominent?

Great question! Sadly, the poker world in the USA has shrank a bit (not too much). With entries down at the WSOP from the good old days, a lot less television (I miss Poker After Dark), and less sponorship deals for US players. However, the rest of the world has seen a lot less shrinkage.

What’s the future for online poker in the US? Should there be one?

Legalized online poker is coming; 100%! It is simply a question of when…Amazingly, one person has stopped legalized online poker: one person! Mr Sheldon Adelson: and he spends $100 million every year funding politicians…However, David Baazov (poker big hope) is fighting hard, and effectively, for legalization. I’m hoping for full legalization in California, and then many of us, and the experts, believe it will spread accross the USA

Are you involved in talks for Rounders 2?

I talked to the writer of Rounders, Brian Koppleman, on his show. And was pretty sure Rounders II was going to get made. Rounders did $150 million on DVD, so why not?

You’ve won 18 million but, how much have you lost?

Not sure I have the answer for that! All i know is that I have paid the IRS every year since 1987

Have you ever done 2 chicks at the same time?

No, but I’m not complaining cause Ive been happily married for 25 years!

What do you think needs to be done to ignite another «Moneymaker Effect»- style boom of poker interest?

A bigger BOOM is coming when the USA legalizes online poker again! We have witnessed this in Italy, France, and Russia when online poker was actually legalized, and the operators were shocked because they had 10 times as many people play (10X) than was expected. Ditto in the USA: coming soon…

Bracelet that means the most to you other than the 89 event.

Winning the 2012 WSOPE Main Events in Cannes (Bracelet 13) was amazing!

Do you really lose control when they badbet you or is you «poker brat» persona just an act for the cameras?

Unfortunately, I DO lose control sometimes! But a lot less than the world thinks or understands…If I lose it, then ESPN is there to play it over and over, but when I’m good they aren’t using that footage as much

 Would you like to ask Hellmuth anything? If the answer is yes, then you have time until the 20eth of the month to click on the following LINK and post your query.

If you want to learn more about Hellmuth, check out this exclusive interview he gave us last year at the WSOP: