Poker superstar Phil Hellmuth spoke to The Washington Post on Tuesday to promote his new iPhone poker application. The Post has been very critical about regulated online gambling coming to Washington, D.C., as noted here. Hellmuth said he doesn't believe any big-time pros would move to the District even if online poker is regulated.

From the Post:

“I still think that people are looking for a place to play poker and it wouldn’t be surprising if you had a lot more players than you think start playing,” he said. “It’s a nice test, sure, but I think there’s so few people [in D.C.], 600,000, that you might not achieve critical mass for players on the site under those conditions.”

Early on, he said, some pros might be tempted by a fresh population of weak players, but the low stakes mean it wouldn’t be worth the professional’s time.

But Hellmuth said that the District would be wise to lobby for a federal legalization of online poker, which could allow it to tax a cut of gambling proceeds. Hellmuth is part of FairPlayUSA, a coalition asking Congress to legalize and provide a “strict regulatory framework” for online poker.