Daily 3-Bet: Lederer Dodges, Hellmuth Charges, Cantu Explodes

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Today in the 3-Bet we find Howard Lederer reneging on his final interview agreement, Phil Hellmuth charging up the leaderboard in the WSOPE Main Event and Brandon Cantu going nuclear on Twitter after losing his shot at a WSOPE bracelet.

1) Lederer Cites Hardship on Family, Backs Out of Interview

For a guy who just sat for 12hrs+ answering questions about his role in the Full Tilt meltdown, Howard Lederer is taking a beating for not doing one more interview.

Worn out.

Originally agreeing to meet for a final interview with poker writer Diamond Flush, Lederer has backed out saying the first two interviews were “much harder on [he] and his family than he expected.”

According to Diamond Flush, Lederer changed the time for the interview several times before finally reneging for good. Needless to say, the forum dwellers are not happy about it.

Diamond Flush now says she’ll post several articles this week outlining her take on what was said (or not said). Said Diamond Flush about her planned line of questioning:

“I knew that my promised interview, the final follow up, would be different. I would not be asking the same questions, although some follow-ups had to be put on the record.

“There were, and still are, so many areas not even touched upon as well. Finally, there were many misrepresentations made, that I knew should be clarified for the record.”

“…I have little doubt, and he knows that I know, that he dodged plenty of bullets.”

The first article is expected to be up on her website sometime today.

Meanwhile, the Godfather of Poker Doyle Brunson has also weighed in with his take on the Lederer Files in his blog here.

2) Hellmuth Charges to Front in WSOPE Main Event

Don't look now; Phil's feeling it.

Don’t look now, but Phil Hellmuth has made his way to the front of the pack with just 100 players left in the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event.

With 12 career WSOP bracelets and a record 94 WSOP cashes, there’s no denying Hellmuth is one of the greatest World Series performers of all time.

Still, based on his TV cash-game appearances, his unorthodox short-stack play and a now-outdated claim he's nothing but a No-Limit Hold'em monkey, he's rarely included in the discussion of the game's best players.

WIth over 300,000 in chips heading into the last level of the day in Cannes, barring a major meltdown or cooler Hellmuth looks to be a lock to head into Day 3 with one of the big stacks.

Just how confident is he? Enough that he's brought some of his A-game banter, at least in a recent pot with Kristijonas Andrulis:

"In two hours you're gonna ask yourself, 'What did I do?' while you're in the taxi ride home and thinking about how you gave Phil all your chips."

Follow the live updates on wsop.com and check back on PokerListings for a full recap of Day 2 later.

3) Cantu: "This Must Be What I Get for Being a Bad Person"

Speaking of notorious poker whingers, to say Brandon Cantu has a reputation for being a bit of a difficult player to please would also be a bit of an understatement.

From crushing to crushed.

Guy's been known to get upset at the poker table is all we're saying.

The Cantu geyser went off full steam today at the WSOPE over his most recent disagreement with WSOP brass.

It started with a dispute over a dealer ruling in his heads-up match with Roger Hairabedian a few days ago.

It culminated today when, after a much-protested day-long delay, Jon Aguiar beat him for the bracelet to spoil one of the "greatest performances in WSOP history."

He let everyone know how he felt about it over Twitter:

I just will never understand why I get ruled against in EVERY single decision by the Wsop it's almost become comical when I am right EVERY