Shane Schleger - The Poker (Proust) Q

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I can't pinpoint the exact year I recall seeing Shane "shaniac" Schleger on my TV screen coolly and calmly playing some amazing poker, but I do remember that it made me want to be just like him. First of all, he's incredibly good-looking, with more than a passing resemblance to this year's People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive (Bradley Cooper)*.

Second, he's really smart. He was published at the age of 17 in the NYPress, New York City's edgy and independent alternative to established weeklies, and his skill at writing is well-illustrated by the compelling work he routinely shares on his blog, You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure. If you're short on time, don't miss this insightful piece he wrote for Slate Magazine on what Black Friday meant to him, and many top pros.

Last but not least, he's a prolific, and witty, tweeter (@ShaneSchleger). I know many think @BJNemeth wins the internetz when it comes to debate on the medium, but I say Shane gives BJ some stiff competition.  Either way, you can't go wrong following either of them.

Despite the chilling aftereffects of Black Friday (Shane, like many top online pros, has relocated out of the US in order to continue playing - right now, he's grinding it out from Rosarita Beach, Mexico), Shane has had a great year both live and on-line. If you're into stats - you can see just how well here and here. In addition, he was added to the Team PokerStars roster this year and has already won a seat to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, taking place next month.

Like @kevmath and @MariaHo before him, Shane was a great sport when I asked if he would participate in my PPQ folly. (In case you're new to my blog, the Poker(Proust) Q (aka the "PPQ") is my modified take on the Vanity Fair Celebrity Proust Questionnaire). Even in the face of the chaos Black Friday has wrought within the industry, Shane was kind enough to share some insight into some of the things that make him tick.

What I like best about Shane is his willingness to say what he means and mean what he says. He doesn't just "go along to get along", which is pretty rare in this world, imo. I think he's great and hope you do, too.

With that, here's Shane...in his own words:


What is your idea of perfect happiness?
"Freedom from the need to feel free."

What makes you laugh?
Self-effacement. 

Where do you feel most at home?
Next to an ocean, river or lake

Of what achievement in poker are you most proud? In life?
Not too proud of anything, just happy to be here.

What is your most treasured possession?
My bicycle. 

What is your greatest fear?
Being broke.

What trait do you most deplore in yourself?
Lack of discipline. 

What trait do you most deplore in others?
Lack of gratitude. 

What is your greatest extravagance?
Overpriced casual clothing.

Like lawyers, poker players are often considered excellent liars. Outside of poker, on what occasion do you lie?
When my mother asks how I am doing. 

When and where do you remembering being your happiest?
Probably summer camp

If you died and could come back as a person or thing, what would it be?
A fly on the wall.

What is your favorite journey?
The journey home. 

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Probably honesty since plenty of people seem to get by without it.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
"Right on."

What is your greatest regret?
Not going to college.

Which talent would you most like to have?
Musical talent

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
I can't name just one. 

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Immobility. 

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would manage my time better.

If you weren't a poker professional, what would you be?
I hope to have an answer to that one day. 

What is your most striking characteristic?
No idea. 

What do you most value in your friends?
Accessibility. 

Who are your heroes in real life?
Bob Dylan, George Clinton, JD Salinger. 

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Henry Sugar 

How would you like to die?
Drowning or in a natural disaster

What is your motto?
Maybe, "Think right and you can fly." 

What is your favorite NLHE hand?
Aces

Who's a better rapper, Jeff Madsen or Prahlad Friedman?
Prahlad

Who *really* should've won The Apprentice, Annie Duke or Joan Rivers?
Joan Rivers is a complete legend, one of the hardest working people in show business. 

Who is your favorite Micros character?
I like to stay at least 1 year behind pop culture trends and phenomena, so I haven't caught up with the Micros yet.

What is your favorite karaoke song? (if you don't karaoke, what's your favorite song)
Positively 4th Street

What is the best thing about Twitter and who is your favorite tweeter?
The interaction, the call and response. And the bots that @j_e_d created, especially @bot_marley and @ro_bot_dylan. I consider @j_e_d to be my twitter soul-mate for creating those bots.

Who is your favorite Main Event Champ?
Peter Eastgate

***

* hey - what's good for the goose...amirite ladies?

Responsible for Black Friday...who me?!

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On Tuesday, Bill Rini wrote a great piece entitled “Who to Blame for Black Friday?” In it, he illustrates the “**wink, wink, nudge, nudge**” proposition that online poker has allegedly been from its inception and argues that, technically, you and I are to blame for Black Friday and its aftermath “because we didn’t demand better. We didn’t demand more transparency. We didn’t ask the right questions.”

I think that sounds good and is true in the sense that we each have to account for the decisions we make. But, I’m not sure it’s altogether accurate. And here’s why:

I’m a consumer. I’m not a marketing guru or a poker professional. I’m a mother who often makes purchasing decisions for my family on everything from what I buy at the grocery store, to clothes, cleaning products, entertainment decisions, and everything in between.

I’m not an expert and while I have the capability to research every decision I make, I generally trust what my local HEB is selling, as well as what’s marketed to me on the tube or radio, and in the newspapers and magazines I read. Even better, is when I get a recommendation from a friend. If it comes from someone I know, trust, and like, that’s pretty much where my business is going. It might not be the right way to make purchasing decisions, but it’s how I (and a vast majority of the US population) make such decisions. It’s also why marketing – like poker – is a multi-billion dollar industry.

Couple that purchasing behavior with the fact that I didn’t get into online poker in a real (serious) money way until 2009, well after the UIGEA made its big splash in 2006. The way I heard about where to play online poker was from sources like ESPN (marketed as “The Worldwide Leader in Sports”), where I could watch my favorite pros play in the WSOP and then see commercials for sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt. Not only were the ads shown on a respectable news channel, they were endorsed by the faces I’d see in those ads - my favorite pros like Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey (among many others).

In the face of the UIGEA, the roster of pro players for those sites only grew, and came to include well respected “regular” people, like Orel Hershiser, Dennis Phillips, and Chris Moneymaker, and well known celebrities, like Jason Alexander and Don Cheadle. As noted by Phil Ivey in his lawsuit against Full Tilt, “the great poker players have become celebrity figures….The celebrity status attributed to these poker players is akin to the celebrity status of professional athletes.” Not surprisingly, such people sell product.

To top it off, the Poker Players Alliance, whose mission it is to “establish favorable laws that provide poker players with a secure, safe and regulated place to play,” touted in a very straightforward fashion that the UIGEA “does not make it illegal for people to play [poker] on the internet.” (emphasis added).

So what’s a gal like me to do?

Rini argues that players like me “didn’t care.” Even in the face of scandal and fraud, “[n]umbers just keep going up.” He continues, “[a]s the money became more and more staggering in nature the online poker sites began to exert more and more power.” And everybody from the online sites, to the pros, to the television, online and print media in between rode that boom. And they rode it on the backs of people like me.

But here’s the thing – as Hunter Bick points out in this post for Drag the Bar – the UIGEA doesn’t even mention poker players. “It only mentions payment processing for financial institutions. It stipulates that financial institutions cannot lawfully process ‘unlawful internet gambling’ transactions. However, the law never defines what ‘unlawful internet gambling’ is, what games it applies to, nor does it provide any guidance whatsoever for what ‘unlawful internet gambling’ even means.”

I guess what I should have done was get a legal opinion before I played real money poker on the internet. Surely, that's what the PPA and the online sites and the pros (at least the ones with agents) did...right?*

As an attorney I’ve practiced municipal law, which in Texas often deals with open government and how governmental bodies deal with laws like the Texas Open Meetings Act. One important facet of the law deals with how such bodies make decisions. As you might expect, it’s often easier for a school board or city council to make decisions behind closed doors - less questions, and all that. But the law says, no, if it’s a matter of public business, then the public has a right to know about it.** To remain in compliance, the board or the city council will first ask their attorney for a written opinion before going into closed session. I would bet really good money that something very similar happened here for organizations like the PPA, the online sites, and likely many pros.

As just your everyday, average joe poker player, I didn’t know I should’ve been asking for one, too.

I agree that Black Friday will ultimately create a more regulated, and hopefully favorable, online landscape for players in the future. But, please don’t blame me and other players for Black Friday and its aftermath. A law was on the books and it was either not enforced by the Department of Justice, or it was not adhered to by the sites it sought to regulate, as it should’ve been.

Given all that, I believe blaming me for Black Friday is like blaming the mother whose child dies after eating an e-coli laced burger from the Jack and Crack dollar menu, or like blaming the owner of the 2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid for the car accident on the I-5 when his brakes fail.

I don’t obtain a legal opinion before I buy a burger, much less a car. So please, Mr. Rini, don’t blame me.

If, however, blame must still be apportioned...the lawyers might be a good place to start.***
______________________

[1]* Full disclosure, I looked for news stories, tweets, and/or other resources to support the assertion that sites like Full Tilt and PokerStars (and/or their shills) relied on such opinions from their hired guns. I did not find any. If you think it’s because there aren’t any, please leave your contact info in the comment section below because I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.

[2]** Section 551.144(c) of the Texas Government Code provides that: “[i]t is an affirmative defense to prosecution…that the members of the governmental body acted in reasonable reliance on a…written interpretation of this chapter in an opinion of…the attorney for the governmental body.”

[3]*** To be fair, as I said at the beginning of this piece, we each are accountable for our own actions and the "I didn't think I needed a legal opinion to play" is overly broad/simplistic. The truth is (as most people know), ignorance of the law is no defense. The problem here is that the law does not clearly speak to us as players. It's for that reason that I think Mr. Rini's argument is somewhat misguided. Otherwise, I like and agree with much of what he has to say (particularly his thoughts on player apathy re cheating, collusion, and other player misbehavior).

Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

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My grinding pad

"Plan your work and work your plan" is a motto my grandfather lived by.  It helped me through law school, it helped me during nearly a decade of law firm life, and it helped me start and succeed at creating and building my own solo practice.  I figure if it worked in those arenas, it will work in poker. 

So, I've got my grinding station set up and I've got my games scheduled. I'll be playing Monday through Wednesday, beginning at 8:00am, and again on Sundays.  Every other week I hope to get in a live local game, and once a month (or every other month as my schedule and bankroll allows), I hope to travel to Vegas to play several cheaper buy-in tourneys.  My current bankroll is still $3000.  I hold some of that in the bank and some of it across three sites: Bodog, PokerStars, and FullTilt.

During the week (Monday through Wednesday), I'll play a maximum of 20 tournaments a day at a cost of $185.30 per day.  I reviewed each site I play on and have the games calendared by start time, type, and buy-in.  All of the tournaments are the micro/low MTT buy-in stakes (with only two $2.20 rebuys in the mix, not to exceed an $11 total buy-in per game), to be played over the three sites I mentioned above.  I begin at 8:00 and my last buy-in of the day is 1:30.

Thursdays and Fridays, depending on my work schedule, are study and review days. I'm also still very much working on my cash game and if I have no luck for the day in tourneys, I put in some time there.  I'm generally playing .10/.25 FR, but I've begun adding in some 6-handed, and some higher buy-ins.  As of yet, I'm not multi-tabling more than three cash games at a time.

I'll let you know how it goes.  In the meantime, good luck at the tables.

My tools

My poker library

Poker Stats

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Logo courtesy of the OPR website

If you play online poker, you're likely aware of the Official Poker Rankings site.  I don't know much about the creators behind it but it's a great resource for checking out opponents and following your own play.

I have to say I'm pretty disgusted with my stats pre-July 2010.  Since becoming disciplined about adhering to a bankroll plan (begun around June 23, 2010), my stats are moving in the right direction.  I know it's going to take awhile to get my ROI for the entire year in the positive, but that's ok.

In June 2010, I had -67% ROI.  Si, senor.  That's a negatory sixty-seven percent..

In July, I had a +19% ROI and a profit of $27. In August, I had a +10% ROI and a $34 profit.  So far this month, my ROI is at +88% and I'm showing a profit of $206.

As I wrote here previously, I started off with $600 in my online account on September 1, 2010.  As of today, my BR is at $873.65 (which includes a PokerStars VIP Stellar reward - wheee).

I really don't know how I played poker before creating and sticking to a Bankroll Management plan.  Now that I am, I very much believe it's changed my game.

What about you?  Do you practice bankroll management?  If so, what is your plan and how does it work?  I'd love to hear your comments about the practices you follow.

My philosophy, in a nutshell, is:

Never buy into an MTT for more than 2% of my BR

Always have 250+ buy-ins for the game I'm playing

In addition, I write down my daily efforts.  It looks like this:

September 15, 2010

BR = $830.55

7 tourneys (-$15.40)
         Won (+58.50)

Profit (+42.10)

BR = $873.65
VPP = 121.28

Picture courtesy of Linda Spivey

I blank everything out and cut and paste and do it all again the next day that I play.

Maybe that seems too results oriented, and I admit that it sucks to play a lot of tourneys in one day and only have a $10 profit...and I've been there (and worse, with losing sessions).  But, tracking it in this way really clarifies it for me.

After writing it all down, I then often use my HEM and PokerStove to go over marginal hands and see where I messed up in a tournament or could've played a hand differently.

Anyway, that's how I'm doing it.

If you have not checked out OPR, I'd highly recommend using it.  If nothing else, it can keep you honest about whether you're being serious about your online pokers.

For grins, check out the stats on these monsters (they lead the PokerStars tourney leaderboard for 2010):

BFIZZ11
AltyAA  (this guy doesn't even have stats pre-2009!)

While I doubt I'll ever be able to play the volume these guys do, it's fun to be able to track the effort.

Hopefully, I'll get motivated to write soon about something other than poker (and Brandi Carlile).  Until then, I hope you're running good and I hope to hear your comments about BR strategy - or anything else you'd like to share.

Good luck at the tables!

The Line of Least Resistance

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"Too many girls follow the line of least resistance -- but a good line is hard to resist"                                                                                                                          Mae West

It took some time (no, not UB HH time and no I'm not equating these two issues), but I did finally get a response from PokerStars regarding my email to them about Negreanu's recent comments about Annie Duke.  I received it yesterday evening and I waited to blog about it because I wanted to give PokerStars the courtesy of having time to tell me whether they would oppose my linking to the email exchange here.

After another 24 hours or so, I got that permission.(Full disclosure, I initially published this post - with some different content - moments before I got PokerStars' follow up email)

Here's PokerStars' secondary email to me (from the initial exchange I blogged about in an earlier post); my response; and, their follow up email.   

And that's pretty much the end of it.  

On that note, we now return to our regularly scheduled program.  For me that will entail grinding microstakes, building my bankroll, and working on getting better at poker...I've definitely got a lot of work to do in that regard.  

I think FullTilt's got some kind of Twitter Poker Tour Tournament going on. Maybe Doyle Brunson's room, too.

Later peeps and good luck at the tables.

Mouthy, Spouty

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The terms "mouthy, spouty" are words my family uses for someone who has a big mouth, knows it all, and is generally argumentative.  Not surprisingly, I am often known as the mouthy, spouty one in my family.  If you've happened upon this blog within the past few days, I bet you're not surprised. (I think I come by it honestly, though.  Plus, I've been trained to argue - it's what I do in my job, after all).


Until a few short days ago, I think members of my family (um, usually just my dad) and maybe one or two people from twitter were the only ones who read my blog.  That changed when I got angry Friday night after reading Daniel Negreanu's comment about Annie Duke.


Acting in haste on my anger and using my fairly anonymous blog - where I'm typically writing about my quest to become a better, more disciplined poker player - I vented my personal anger at what I felt were Daniel's inappropriate comments.  I did that here and here.  Mouthy, spouty that I am, I came home from dinner/drinks with family and made a poll about it, that I'm not sure I'm very proud of, which you can take here.


I got a few ugly things thrown my way, I think mainly because I find comparable the ugly offensiveness of the use of  the "c" word toward a woman to the ugly offensiveness of the use of the "n" word toward anyone.


All I can say in response is that I come at this with my own filter and life experience.  I find them both reprehensible.  I find them both wrong.  I'm not from Europe.  I am a woman; I am not, however, a person of color.  Does that negate my right to find them equally ugly?  Does it make me wrong for making the comparison?  Does it make me overly sensitive and a soon to be member of the *gasp* PC police?  I don't think so, but some people do.  I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the subject because I can certainly stand to learn a thing or two.

As of yet, I guess I'm still cogitating over what, if anything, I've learned.  I can tell you that I didn't even start blogging here until a month or so ago.  And the impetus to do so was the controversy that came about regarding the 2010 WSOP Ladies' Event (don't go assuming my position on the subject, just read about it here if you're so inclined).  That should make it clear that I am passionate about my gender.


Annie Duke certainly doesn't need (much less want) me to side with her or fight her battles.  She's perfectly capable of doing that on her own.  I'm equally a fan of hers as I am of many poker players, male and female.  That some of them have beef with each other - that's their thing, not mine. I took offense to what I read and I voiced my opinion about it.  That's probably never going to change.


As an attorney, I defend companies where such behavior for non-public figures often costs them money and causes offenders to lose their job.  It's my experience that juries and/or judges (fact finders) don't like it when they see, in print, words like "c***" or "n*****" or "b****", etc.  When faced with such facts in evidence, it makes my job extremely difficult to defend a non-discriminatory position because juries are made up of people of all colors, all backgrounds, all filters and personal biases.  And as you likely already know, there's no guarantee how 12 people on a jury are going to respond to such evidence - much less upwards of 100s of people on twitter.


Here, we're not in court and this ain't no capital offense. The poker community is, however, on center stage at the moment.  As a poker player, this kind of publicity is not what I want certain members of Congress or the Senate considering before a vote on whether to make on-line poker legal. 

I'll give you this - if I'd spent even half the time on my pokers as I did on this craziness this past weekend, maybe I'd have won some damn money at the tables.  On that note, I'll say goodnight - my daughter's got her first day of school in the morning!


Um, I also love Brandi Carlile and have not taken time to say near enough about her, as she deserves!


With that - good luck at the tables, peeps.

PokerStars Responds

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I probably should've put more thought into writing a blog post about the Negreanu controversy.  I've been told to lighten up...that my involvement is unbecoming and beneath me, which I think - but am not sure - is a polite way of saying "shut up because I don't care to hear about this anymore."

I stand by my statement - just as I don't think it's ok for anyone to call another person a "n*****," I don't think it's ok for anyone to call a woman a "c***"  (and I find it wrong and demeaning to women that a radio personality, politician, public figure, or anyone really, can lose their job or be publicly excoriated for the use of a racial epithet but someone can use an equally reprehensible word toward a woman with no consequences).

Then again - I. Am. A. Woman.  As a woman, I think it's wrong.

Do my feelings on the subject make me an emotionally unstable, overly sensitive individual? Does the fact that I chose to vocalize those feelings make me a strident, harpy bitch?

(for some idea how some people might answer those questions, see comments to this blog)

Whatever you may believe, it's my heartfelt belief that my feeling/opinion and my expression of that feeling/opinion merely makes me an individual with a personal standard.  Period.

My all-time favorite poker players are Kathy Liebert,  Maria Mayrinck, Kara Scott, Vanessa Selbst, Victoria Coren and Jena Delk so it's not like I'm trying to promote a Team Danny/Team Annie agenda, although I do wonder if there would be any money in t-shirts with such slogans...hmm...I digress.

No, I am not going to go play at Ultimate Bet.  As much as I am a fan of Joe Sebock, I don't believe they ever adequately addressed the cheating scandal and so I may just end up going back to Bodog or FullTilt...we'll see.

So, go on witcha bad selves and have some fun today. It's Saturday.  Be nice to each other and to all you men, please be especially kind to your wives, mothers, daughters and sisters.  For as much as we get on your nerves, you love us even if you can't admit it (here's a secret - we love you, too).

PokerStars' response to my email is below.  Again, if you feel as I do and/or want to express your opinion to PokerStars - and I hope you will - please just email them at support@pokerstars.com.

Pokerstars' response to my initial email:

From: PokerStars Support
To:
Subject: PokerStars Support - Daniel
Sent: Aug 21, 2010 12:49 AM

Hello ________,

Thank you for your email.

We are glad to hear that you are enjoying the Women's Poker League and value
very much as one of our loyal female poker players.

Daniel and Annie are both passionate about poker, and both aren't afraid to
speak their mind. I think this is a fact people like and appreciate about
both players. When you have two people that are similar in that regard,
there's bound to be friction somewhere along the line.

Although Daniel Negreanu is a Team PokerStarsPro, he is an entity to himself
and as such will always be encouraged to express his views and speak his
mind as he would otherwise do so, PokerStars Pro or not.

I hope you will still enjoy watching both Daniel and Annie play as both are
fantastic poker players and an enrichment, on one way or another, for the
poker world.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions and
thank you for choosing PokerStars.

Regards,

Katja
PokerStars Support Team

And my response:

I get that and appreciate that he is an individual unto himself. But his comment re: Annie Duke, a woman, and calling her a "cunt" is exactly on par with calling an African American person a "n*****," it is completely and utterly unacceptable.

I appreciate your response and would likely be placated if PokerStars were to make public a statement like you provided me.

If that's not going to happen, please let me know because I will cash out and commence playing elsewhere.

Look forward to hearing from you.

And PokerStars' response:

From: PokerStars Support

To: 

Cc:

Date: Saturday, August 21 2010 1:13 AM

Subject: PokerStars Support - Forwarded to Supervisor

Hello __________,

Thank you for your reply.

I have forwarded your email to a Support Supervisor for their review and
response. You will receive a reply as soon as possible.

Your patience is appreciated.

Regards,

Katja
PokerStars Support Team

 That was 12 hours ago.  

Good luck at the tables, peeps.

An Open Letter to Daniel Negreanu and PokerStars

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(EDIT - If people are still reading this, you guys should really take the poll.)

So I woke up this morning, checked into to all things social media and was disappointed to read this quote from Daniel Negreanu regarding Annie Duke.

Listen, I'm a lawyer and pretty much fight for a living.  Believe me, it gets old. And it's been my experience that the side with the weakest position, the weakest arguments, the weakest facts nearly always resorts to ad hominem attack when they have nothing else on which to rely.  An ad hominem attack is just a fancy way to describe what we did in kindergarten (i.e., name calling or attempting to win support for an otherwise weak position by obscuring the real issues involved). 

As a woman, his comment just pissed me off.  Make your argument, Daniel.  Explain why you think she's wrong.  Agree to disagree, whatever.  In using the word "cunt" to describe Annie Duke, however, you didn't just disrespect her, you disrespected all women.  As a spokesperson for PokerStars and poker in general, that's just not acceptable.

Like I said in a tweet - I'm not trying to censor anyone and I am the last to play PC police.  Nor do I believe I'm being overly sensitive about a simple word - I've heard worse and been called worse, I'm not gonna wither and die from an insult. I highly doubt Annie Duke will either.

But here's the thing...when you use that kind of language, your multitude of male fans think it's ok and so the next person who's at the end of such an insult might be your assistant playing in a nice live game where she gives some guy a bad break and his final retort to her before leaving the table is "Nice hand, cunt."  Acceptable? No. It happens, dude.  Believe it. (because of my avatar on-line, I often get the nice "bitch" in chat from the now-observer I just busted)

So for all your talk about about being on the side of women, you just negated your position by your reprehensible comment regarding Duke.  I hope you can see that.  And I hope you'll make a comment, maybe, hopefully apologizing.  If not, oh well, that's your right and I know you won't miss me as your one-time fan.

But if you really believe in your position (what exactly is the beef between you two poker players anyway?  If anyone knows, please do tell.), then man up and articulate it intelligently and in such a manner that you don't alienate half the population.  If you can't do that, then please shut the hell up about Annie Duke.

Dang, I really got worked up writing this.  As for the open letter to PokerStars, I just really felt the need to voice my disappointment and anger about Daniel's comments.  If you feel the same, and I hope you do, I think PokerStars needs to know and I hope you'll express your opinion by contacting them (just send an email to support@pokerstars.com).  Here's what I sent them:

My email to PokerStars:

Hi guys, I know I'm just one of your many, many, MANY players. And I know I'm just one of your female players, of which I'm sure you have plenty.

I really appreciate the Women's League and the LIPS satellites you've been running recently.

As soon as I got started playing online seriously, I've made PokerStars my online poker home. While I've dabbled at Bodog, Cake and FullTilt, I am a loyalist and want PokerStars to be my gaming choice when I can't play live.

I know I'm not your best customer, but I've deposited plenty over the years and support you guys every chance I get (see my PS twibbon on my twitter account: http://www.twitter.com/PokerLawyer).

That's why I really hope you all will be coming out with a statement very soon about Daniel Negreanu's extremely offensive comments toward Annie Duke.

If none is forthcoming, please just let me know. While I feel I've got my routine and my 'home' with PokerStars and would hate to go elsewhere, his comment was offensive, insulting, and just plain wrong and I can't, in good conscience, support a site that would condone or remain silent about his actions.

The thing is, not only do I love PokerStars, I've always been a big fan of Daniel. That's why his comment was so disappointing.

So, with that said, I really hope to hear something from you guys soon - hopefully very publicly. It'll go a long way.

 Well, that's all for tonight gang.  Good luck at the tables.