#173: “Bad Behaviour”
My elimination from this year’s Irish Winter Festival was a bit brutal, my Aces being cracked early on Day 2 by Francesco Macari’s 62s, all the money going in on the turn with him drawing to 8 outs. As I slunk away from the table, the one silver lining was that I could finally take off the ridiculous ‘Survivor Hoody’ and stop looking like a Teletubby that had recently been indoctrinated into the Ku Klux Klan. I was happy with my play throughout the tournament, particularly when I was short on Day 1, forced to grind in the 15-25bb zone for 4 levels. I wasn’t happy, however, with the manner of my exit. As someone who has played over 50,000 tournaments, a bad beat doesn’t phase me one iota. As someone who has played only 80 live tournaments, however, a middle-aged man punching the table and beating his chest like a gorilla when he sucks out is a little vexing. I am sad to say too it was not the only incidence of poor sportsmanship I witnessed over the weekend.
On Day 1, I had a run in with eventual runner-up Patryk Pietnoczko. A lady to my right opened a pot and was flatted by Patryk on the button and both blinds. She pot-betted a flop of A-10-9 rainbow and after some deliberation, Patryk shoved for about 30k. Both blinds folded and she tank-called, stating that she didn’t think he would shove a really big hand. He showed A10 and she grimaced, turning over A5. The board bricked and as Patryk stacked his chips he laughed in her face, saying “You should not have called me”. I stuck my nose in: “Be classy in victory dude”. He continued to mock her and I continued to berate him – “She explained her thinking, she put you on a draw, she was wrong. There’s no need to rub it in!”. “Yeah”, he answered, “I suppose it was a cooler”. “Wow”, I said, “You really are a dick!” He took out his earphones – “What did you say?” Another player spoke up – “I don’t think he understands you.” “He understands me fine”, I said, “I wouldn’t say it’s the first time he’s been called a DICK.” Patryk leant forward – “What did you call me?” I re-iterated: “I called you a dick”.
Patryk called the floor. “Wow”, I said, “You speak to her like that and then you have the audacity to call the floor on me. You are some piece of work”. The TD arrived and Patryk demanded that I get a one orbit penalty. She asked the dealer what happened and he sheepishly told her that we were calling each other names. Patryk told her that I called him a dick and I started laughing: “I thought your name was Richard, dude. Get over yourself!” He stood up, telling me that he wanted to take it outside. The floor told him to sit down and that since she arrived, he has been the more aggressive. She ordered both of us to drop it and said that if it continued we would both receive a penalty. She left and Patryk asked me if I wanted to go outside at the next break. “So”, I replied, “disrespecting a lady and beating up a guy… that would be a good day in your world, huh?” The dealer told us both to be quiet and that was the end of it.
There has been a lot of talk lately about the behaviour of and some of the comments made by some of Ireland’s more established poker players. As evidenced by the above story, I am certainly guilty on occasion of stirring up trouble and over-reacting. It has also been put to me that I sometimes write mean-spirited blogs that are over-critical of people in the poker world. On top of that, I was recently taken to task by a follower on twitter who said my use of the term ‘live donkamania’ was disrespectful and summed up the attitude of many of the so-called pros when it came to the more recreational players. While I meant absolutely no offense and was merely using a commonplace euphemism for a big field live event, I think this misunderstanding highlighted an ever-growing bi-directional cognitive gap between professional and amateur players.
It is perfectly reasonable for a poker player to take the viewpoint that he owes nobody anything. He is out for himself in a dog-eat-dog world and he can say anything he likes about anybody along the way. The consequences of this line will be reaped by the player as he will likely be tried in the court of public opinion. Some people will find this type of character appealing (Phil Hellmuth has created an entire brand around his public image as the ‘Poker Brat’, a pantomime villain who seizes every opportunity to steal the limelight and be derisive of his opponents) while others will find it ungracious and unsportsmanlike. Consider the now commonplace and somewhat formulaic poker tweet:
“Fat donkey spastic just cold-called my 4bet out of the blinds, check raised me all-in on 10-6-2 rainbow and got there with J10s versus my Kings #fucktard”
This tweet may also, depending on the author’s commitment, be accompanied by a surreptitiously taken photo of said fat donkey spastic stacking his newly acquired chips. While I don’t like it when these tweets are personalised (and particularly don’t condone the taking of photographs), I do understand and sympathise with a player’s need to vent his frustration. Poker is a blood sport and recreational players need to remember that pro poker players are not built to be role models. They are not manufactured on some bullshit PC before-the-watershed talent show. Most of them are not even respected by their own families. That said, poker is becoming more mainstream and many of its participants are in the public eye. In this age of social media, professional players certainly should be more mindful of their duty of care to safeguard not just their own reputations but that of the game. That fat donkey spastic might be your twitter follower and he might have feelings, a different sense of humour or a gang of fat donkey spastic mates outside waiting for you.