| | |  | Last Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |  | | | Gambling and the Unwritten Rules
- Wednesday, 26 Apr 2006
Many gambling fans believe that poker is a "man's game" and thus should be played with certain unwritten rules regarding courtesy and consideration to other players. However, with the popularity of gambling growing, it seems that people are less concerned with how they portray themselves and more into how much they can win at a hand of poker. These gambling players are far from the ones that die hard poker fans know and love, and they are beginning to cause some serious problems among enthusiasts. Jeff Simpson has it up to here with jokers who spoil TV poker tournaments with their rude ways
He loves televised poker, and particularly enjoys the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel, the World Series of Poker on ESPN and High Stakes Poker on GSN. But one of the most irritating things about televised poker, and ESPN's WSOP coverage and the biggest culprit, is the extra attention paid to the juvenile antics of some poker players, who are clearly new to the world of gambling. Whether it is one-time World Champion Phil Hellmuth and his interminable whining, Mike Matusow and his non-stop criticism of fellow competitors or a handful of others who specialize in annoying behavior, these guys are a detriment to the game.
Hellmuth and Matusow are talented, and they and the TV producers may think that boorish behavior sells, but in the long run, they are mistaken. Hellmuth is the game's biggest crybaby - he can't believe it when some fool who doesn't know who he's tangling with has the nerve to knock him out of a tournament. And Matusow intentionally tries to throw opponents off their games by insulting their play. But the boorish behavior doesn't end after the gambling tournament is over for them. Matusow and Hellmuth continue their tirades long after they've been knocked out, so the excuse that the behavior is just a smart strategy to gain a psychological advantage during the tournament doesn't fly.
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