by Simon Young

Phil Hellmuth is out and, as is customary for the "Poker Brat", he is not a happy bunny. The damage, when it came, was unfortunate as his K-K ran into A-A. So he had a right to feel a little aggrieved, but he did not stop there.

As he paced the floor he told me: "Welcome to Monte Carlo. I run circles around these guys for two days. I had kings twice and queens once and ran into aces each time. But I dodged the bullets and still had chips in front of me, that's how well I was playing. Then I had to go and get K-K that last time when the aces were out and I am now out of the tournament. It's unbelievable."

In fairness, Phil had played well to still be alive, after indeed dodging several bullets that could have taken him down long ago. He had built up to 40,000 at one stage today before getting all-in pre-flop on that last, fateful hand.

The room will be a quieter place without him.