As he picks up where he left off, Flynn would like to give his uneducated and knee-jerk reactions to recent topics brought up in the circles of Twitter-Poker.
Topic #1) Should (both/all) players who are all-in during a tournament be required to turn over their hands?
Originally Flynn was of the hard NO on this issue. Why should someone who shoved with 7/2 off be forced to show their embarrassing bluff? Of course, this has never happened to Flynn, but…. Anyway, after hearing some reasons on the YES side, Flynn has slightly changed course. Whoda’thunk that chip-dumping (cheating) was such a prevalent thing in a game of cards? If it is necessary to surveil their every move to keep humans honest, then no wonder Flynn doesn’t play tournaments often. Okay, in that case, let’s ruin the game for everyone and make the losers show even if they were not the action. Flynn would like to offer a compromise solution: Action shows 1st as normal at any showdown, and if the caller doesn’t want to show, the cards/board run out and the caller shows ONLY the DEALER their hand if (they believe) it is a loser. This will solve the chip-dumping problem and will also let the cards speak should the caller have misread the board/their cards. <- this is Flynn being optimistic that the human made a simple mistake. If it turns out the ‘losing’ hand was indeed the winner, the dealer flips it over face up. Win-win. Of course, this puts pressure on the dealer, but that is their job. Keep in mind, this does not preclude the caller from flipping his cards face-up if they choose to, which makes it easier for everyone. Damn kings cracked by that ace on the flop again!
Topic #2) Is it okay for someone to dally going to their tournament seat (either moved or late reg) in order to dodge the blinds.
Hard NO – no compromise on this. However, if a floor moves someone from the 1st action to SB again, then the floor is doing something wrong. Keep forced table moves in same position, if possible, please. Having to move is problematic enough (moved player must get a read on a whole new set of players) without being forced to put in back-to-back blinds/antes (BBA). The floor should be walking the player to the table. Period.
Topic #2-A) Preached by Flynn ad nauseum: NO rebuys/reentries in tournaments!* Having a big bankroll does not make you a better poker player. It just makes you richer than other players. Poker is supposed to be an equalizer, not rich vs not-rich. If the venue wants to allow late-registration to help with guarantees/prize pools, that is fine IF the late-reg player is blinded off appropriately when sitting down. *The only exception should be charity tournaments, where every dollar to the charity that can be coerced out of players should be scooped up and donated.
Topic #3) Allen Kessler dissing WPT reporters. Dude, you were way out of line here. I assume that somewhere, via some other vehicle you have apologized. Much like Flynn’s opinion of PH, he also appreciates Mr. Kessler’s contributions to poker, however, there are times he needs to rein it in. Keep making structure suggestions that benefit players, keep players aware of overly high vig, keep us entertained with your bad-beat stories (well, maybe not), keep being generous with your comps, keep being a nit. Flynn’s handler often introduces herself as “Mrs. Kessler” as a badge of honor for being a tight, solid player. Please don’t make her change her alias. (FYI, the comments, or a lack of, on this alias name from the other players enlighten Flynn about the nature of his opponents at the table). Okay, the AK spanking is over, and Flynn moves on to some nuggets that AK nearly touched on. Large, popular televised production events which are edited post will always be skewed to seem glamourous. Flynn’s poker habit started when he first watched WPT on television. It seemed so easy, the players were interesting and colorful, card-cams made plays obvious, a small investment made big money. Woo hoo, let’s learn this game and win a million! Turns out tournament poker is smoke and mirrors, and until one delves into the seedy side, the image is alluring. Backers, pieces, trades, chops, deals, re-buys, and late-entries all turn poker from a glamourous and easy game to a back-alley manipulative 3-card-Monty. The ruling media does not divulge the agreements made amongst final tables. The players do not divulge backing, staking, trades or pieces. There are hours upon hours of tedium while players throw cards away, raise preflop and take the blinds, all while scrolling through Instagram on their phones. Not glamourous, not easy, and not face-up. If the ruling media showed real tournament poker, no one would watch and no one would be tempted to play. Example: the final table coverage of the WSOP – zzzzzzzzzzz hours and hours of snore-fest to anyone but the most hard core or friends/relatives of the players. So, yes, AK, you almost had it, but you accused the wrong people and didn’t’ check your facts. Flynn considers several poker reporters to be friends, so he doesn’t take this lightly. On the flip side, if you would take on the prevailing ruling media, Flynn probably won’t mind at all.
Topic #4) The rise of women in poker. Yay for all the women who have rocked it this past year. Considering how outnumbered the females are in this game, it is heartening to see a positive trend. There are several ideas scrambling about in this editor’s head about real ways to get more women involved (hooked), and this post is not the place to address them as it would go on forever. Let’s just say most of them involve media and actual fun. To the players and industry staff who are currently striving to include more women, keep up the good work.
Topic #5) High Stakes Poker on PokerGo. Flynn is crushed that Gabe has retired. The show is still quite fine, however. It continues to prove that poker is predominately luck, with just a tish of player-reading and skill involved. The choice of ‘cast’ keeps it entertaining, and the realities of poker shine through with bad beats, plain-old bad-play, plain-old luck, being card dead. Viewers cheer for their favorites and empathize when they lose. Yes, AK, it is edited to make it look more interesting than it is and who the heck knows who have pieces of whom, and who is being staked. On this show, though, if you look beyond the production, one can see how cards and sessions run for individuals, and how sneaky the game of poker (cash) is in real-life. Flynn loves Jennifer Tilley – she is the epitome of humanness when losing (or winning) without being a crybaby (or egotistical). Grace under fire, ma’am.
This has been another rambling poker commentary from the Flynn-ster and the editor. We hope you enjoyed it, or even hated it. At least we know you read it.
Fin
Flynn
It’s pretty clear that the poker players who rebuy and re-enter actually are the better players on average. And if I drive somewhere to play poker I sure as hell don’t want to head home 10 or 20 minutes later just because I had a bad beat.
Can’t argue with the second half of your reply – which is one reason F&O rarely play tournaments unless there is a back-up plan (good cash games/other tournaments nearby to enter) if they bust early. However, I am curious about the facts behind the statement that the better players on average rebuy and re-enter? The editor has pondered the legit ways to determine this – with ANY outcome – and cannot come up with a feasable one. Ideally? 100 freeze-out tournaments, 10 tables of 9 at each tournament, 1 “pro” at each table, the rest being a variety of recs/regs/whatever. Let’s see how many of the “better players” (pros) make a) final tables and b) win the tournaments. >10%, then maybe.. 20% then we will conceed the ‘better player’ title is accurate.
This is an esoteric but interesting article on why card games are addictive. It never hurts to understand what drives other players and ourselves to continue playing:
https://www.newswise.com/articles/scientists-explain-why-card-games-are-so-addictive#:~:text=Prof.,entertaining%2C%20even%20addictive%2C%20games.