...when push came to shove at the highest levels of poker,
we saw that there's no honor among thieves.
[EDIT 5.7.12 - remaining content of original post removed at request of guest author, until further notice. Thank you Black Friday! Grrrr]
One gal's perspective on the sport of poker...and life.
I guess I should add, if Team Full Tilt is working diligently behind the scenes, pushing for a solution to the U.S. payout situation, and it is resolved soon, then I take it all back.
ReplyDeleteBut I see no signs of this happening. Heck, I've got a cashout pending from Full Tilt that has neither been returned to my Full Tilt balance, nor appeared in my bank account. That probably does not bode well.
Super DUPER CO-SIGN! Even if it was social and legal Darwinism at its finest, Team Phil Ivey did what it needed to do to best protect PHIL IVEY.
ReplyDeleteThat a poker player - hell, a PERSON - went out of their way to protect their self-interest is ethically sound and nothing short of expected if not smart. That said poker player is regarded as the best in the world and took time out to at least give lip service to the players/customers of his now-failed business venture is a bonus and far classier than anything else Team Full Tilt has done.
Poker Community...I love y'all but GET OVER YOURSELVES. This is prima facie evidence for my anarcho-capitalist friend from QuadJacks @RunBetterPoker Jl of why "unregulated free markets" DO NOT WORK in our pseudo-capitalistic economic system. Without rules and enforcement, people are going to do as much as they are allowed to get away with, ESPECIALLY at the expense of others, ESPECIALLY in the zero sum game poker. If you folded your big blind to a steal 100% of the time, I'm going to raise your big blind 100% OF THE TIME until you make me stop.
Life isn't black and white - it's gray all over. If these past few years of economic upheaval at the hands of bad actors in our most trusted institutions of banking and government haven't duly informed us, this round of poker economic upheaval surely must. There is no Santa Claus, no Easter Bunny, no Tooth Fairy. The members of Full Tilt Poker's team were excellent marketers but bad businessmen who put their own self-interests ahead of those of its customers in an unregulated free market. Does this turn me off of professional poker, even of the online variety? No. But it is a lesson to be learned that will keep me better informed and prepared moving forward.
No more shock and awe at human nature in the poker industry. Pull up your big boy pants and let's all grow the hell up.
great original post, and similar thanks to ejace1. I would like to see the poker community stop taking the stand of poker players vs. FTP, UB, AP, etc... and start to realize the correlation of big money corperations taking advantage of the under represented lower classes. This is not just the greedy banker taking the families homes, it is corperate america stealing our freedoms, money, and worst of all trust. Let this be the millionth example that unregulated free trade DOES NOT WORK. And please rename that Washington DC Airport.
ReplyDeleteDear ejace1:
ReplyDeleteLehman Bros, AIG, GM, Bear, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan. ALL REGULATED by stupid govt entities who are bought and paid for by same.
Who are you kidding? ANYWHERE there is money, there is also corruption. What prevented it in the old days was the threat of death by the mob.
Get over your own self. No governing body is without the same corruption seen at the major banks, insurance companies, brokerage houses, hedge funds (the WORST unregulated example), or FTP.
The worst thing PStars did was 'mislabeling' deposits. That is what everyone thought about FTP too. PStars has already payed off their players and showed no sign of 'comingling' player money with operational funds. FTP needs to answer that charge.
Regardless, regulated or not, money will always find a way to cheat.
Like you and Larry the DOJ crackdown has left me embarrassed and ticked off that the trust I lent to FTP was squandered. As a huge supporter of online poker in a state actively trying to shut it down I feel no compassion or empathy towards FTP and Cereus. Had these companies operated as advertised and paid out like PS our fight to legislate online poker would be so much easier.
ReplyDeleteWhat utterly surprises and irritates me most of all is that right now, per Poker Scout, FTP is still the #2 poker site............
Putting in a cent or two. First off, I enjoy your blog immensely. You've great insight into the game of poker and I love hearing how others think. Re: Full Tilt...I also have money there, thankfully not a lot, but at some point, I'd like to see it again. I think what Ivey did was smart. Let him protect his image and himself. At least he came forward and said what a lot of people are thinking and as Larry said, the other Full Tilt pro's have neither said nor done a thing. Keep up the excellent work!
ReplyDelete@ejace1, as always, EJ, I love your passion. Just wish we could be utilizing it in our poker study - we need to get that back up and running!
ReplyDelete@Anon 3:51, thanks for commenting. And, if I had any power re renaming that Washington DC airport, I'd get right on it. You're talking about Dulles Int'l, right? ;-)
@Anon 4:14, yes, I wish FT would pay, too; and, you're right - cheaters gonna cheat. Fortunately, not all poker players are cheaters.
@RGC2005, I agree with you RGC. That's one of the things I hate most about all this (how much harder it might make our fight for the licensure/regulation of online poker). I do find it surprising that FT is still #2. I hope it gets resolved soon.
@Kat - Hi there, glad to see your comment! =) I like what you said and appreciate the kind words.