Here at the Chronicle we implore the poker community to police itself as a whole when it comes to out-of-control obnoxious behavior.
One theory (ours) is that there is not a lot for the poker industry to opine about on various media. In reality there is not much excitement surrounding poker for the masses. It is normally a very personal experience so controversy gives us, as a group, something to talk about. We armchair quarterback when Ivy folds that flush, debate the first card off the deck rule, and call out dead-to-rights-cheaters (Hamilton and Matloubi come to mind). In reality, poker is a fairly well-run machine, kept that way by the community.
Even bad press is good press if you are trying to stay relevant. Just ask Phil Helmuth, who made his poker name not only by winning bracelets, but by being The Poker Brat and embracing the name. Mr Helmuth admits to his impulse problem, he spouts off without obscene name calling and extreme personal attacks. He cools down quickly and he legitimately apologizes. He is a good person, in his heart, and to others. He knows there have been times that he should have been penalized by the venue. Agreed, he should have been.
So let’s now come to the real matter at hand. Without wanting to give Mike Matusow too much press, his behavior most assuredly crossed the line. Way way over. Aaaaand…. he was given a pass. Yes, he was called out by the poker watchers and he apologized. But he should have been shut down right then by the people running the WSOP Cozen room, penalized hard by whatever means available: suspend his account, don’t let him enter the next tournament, give him a 10 round penalty, mute him forever, or whatever. WSOP should send the message that this his behavior is not to be tolerated by the poker community.
The Chronicle does not hold tight to the concept that players should be warm and fuzzy to everyone for fear of scaring them off. But there is a difference between warm & fuzzy, and downright nasty. If a rookie can’t sit at a table with a few serious-looking opponents then they should up their home-game until they are comfortable or find another table. The Chronicle does, however, abide by the golden rule: treat everyone with some modicum of respect no matter their gender, tenure, or their home planet. Don’t be rude.
MM did us wrong in every way. He got played. He lost with the worst hand and then he got mad at his opponent for beating him. He didn’t get mad at himself, he didn’t get mad at Cozen for randomly (cough) giving him cards that didn’t win. He didn’t get mad at his ‘bad luck’. Nope, the blame was all on his opponent for slow-rolling him, WHICH ISN’T EVEN A THING.
Here’s the deal, Mike. When you are at a real poker game, with opponents and faces, and you have spent time with them, and there is no shot clock, THEN you can get mad at a slow-roller. To their face, do it. Flynn dares you. If PH can do it, so can you. Right?
Instead, you hid behind a computer miles away from the person who whipped you, then got ever meaner when you found out who it was on Twitter, and continued to hurl (worse) insults. Let us ask you this: If you had been in the same room with your opponent, or even if your opponent had been live streaming, would you have behaved the same way? What if your opponent had Parkinson’s and couldn’t click buttons quickly or handle chips easily? Would you have behaved the same way if your opponent had bad eyesight, and had to recheck the board and action carefully before acting? What it were your girlfriend?
Poker community, please, please don’t encourage this behavior by watching streams, videos or by giving the bad behavior of the jerks any extra attention, no matter who it is. Don’t play in their private games, loan them money, or otherwise enable such toxicity in our small community. We have enough of that in the world right now, without it penetrating poker or cozen.
What about Negreanu you ask? He ranted and called someone names, why isn’t the Chronicle calling him out? The answer is motive: DNegs was defending his family from a direct attack, he did not throw the first punch. We concede that he could have probably handled it differently; found a way to make the troll-scum look worse, not given him the so desperately desired attention, and in doing so DNegs have would have made himself look like the ambassador he wants to portray. But, we are not going to fault him for defending the fort.
If the WSOP or other hosting agency won’t police the bad apples, then it is up to the rest of us to do it. Give the positive, funny, and educational community members your support. Ignore the jerks and hope for the best.
Actions speak louder than words.
Fin
Flynn