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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

Aug 26, 2006

Wish I Had Known That (or Not) ...

When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest. -- William Hazlitt

Back to the be-careful-what-you-wish-for scenario covered some weeks back, the blogs, rumor mills, and mouth-to-mouth buzz over the excessive number of chips at the final event of the 2006 World Series of Poker isn't going away.

Now we all know that the world is full of cheats and that the poker world has more than its fair share of those nefarious characters. That someone would try to sneak into the tourney with the advantage of chips he appropriated from a previous tournament isn't really a stretch. In fact one player at this year's tournament was disqualified when during a move from one table to another, and not having enough hands to carry loose chips, he dropped the extra chips into his pocket. No! No! No! Those chips have to stay in sight at all times. (As a sidebar, perhaps tournament directors should have a brush or other employee help transport mountains of chips from table to table. Not only would that eliminate the need to find some storage place but also it would eliminate spillage.)

Now the assumption to the above is that player(s) cheated ....

Back to the be-careful-what-you-wish-for scenario covered some weeks back, who would have thought that poker would become so damned popular that it would lure fading stars and aging bit-part celebrities, and silicone-filled marionettes back into a spotlight. I'm okay with folks we perceive as stars playing poker but come on now. Isn't this taking it a step too far? This is the exact press release I'm referring to: "Recently actress and model Pamela Anderson launched Pamela Poker, her own entry into the world of online poker. As part of the Doyle Brunson Poker Network, Pamela Poker has a strong baseline of support, and has recently added a blog to its offerings. In addition to playing online poker, players have the opportunity to play against Pam Anderson from time to time, as well as to use the site for learning more about how to play their favorite games of Texas Holdem and Omaha poker. The blog will also feature personal entries from Pam Anderson herself, with details about her life, her career, and her experiences with poker which, she freely admits, are limited. Anderson has also recently starred in a TV spot with Doyle Brunson himself in support of his online poker room, Doyle's Room."

Now the assumption is that it's legal for American citizen Pam to own an offshore gambling site ....

Back to the be-careful-what-you-wish-for scenario covered some weeks back, probably the most interesting coverage of the 2006 WSOP came from Proffessor77, keeper of the blog at the msn group PokerNation. In discussing the amount of gamble in the dotcom entrants who picked off the pros with confident alacrity, he wrote, "The people who write the books can't figure out the people who read them." Half joking but probably more serious than not, he later wrote, "Better start printing those strategy books in pencil."

In a fair world, it would be nice to have the best of everything but whoever said our world was fair was a liar. Poker is still a great game. In fact, it's an even better game than it was before everybody and his brother jumped on the bandwagon because everybody has a chance to make a score. The grumblers and mumblers who think it's too hard to compete against 800, well, they had their shot using their theories, their strategies and in some cases (long ago, of course) their shenanigans.

When the pros had to put up their own money or their backer's money to get into the tournament, they were playing not just for a title or a bracelet. They were playing for their livelihood and they paid for it via a steep entry fee. When you get to the big dance from cheapie elimination play, hell, it's all guts and glory. Probably 90 percent of the players in this year's World Series never gave a thought to choosing poker as a profession. For the most part, they were on a freeroll and as such could go all in with marginal hands, go home or go to the final table.

So the visit is over for now and before you fire off another email criticizing these criticisms, let's not speak praise of everything or everybody lest we have nothing to speak about at all.