HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

this guy can play good . how great would it be for poker if he makes it to the final table . and he is a very nice guy he would be a great poster boy for the game . go hal

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

Final proof that live tells are indeed overrated??

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

Does he have somebody to whisper to his ears what he have or what is the deal? Do he ask every pot how much chips the people have left?

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

What if the assistent is bribed and whispers the wrong cards to the guy?

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

I read this story yesterday and was a bit surprised that they are letting someone do this. I guess they would not want the negative press that would come with telling a handicapped person that they cannot play because of their disability. It's still like 100x better than the guy with no arms who was looking at his hole cards with his feet. I'm sorry but that was just gross.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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I read this story yesterday and was a bit surprised that they are letting someone do this. I guess they would not want the negative press that would come with telling a handicapped person that they cannot play because of their disability. It's still like 100x better than the guy with no arms who was looking at his hole cards with his feet. I'm sorry but that was just gross.

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I agree, that guy last year was not funny to watch.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

I have absolutely no idea what to think about this situation.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

This proves how ridiculous Harrah's is and maybe it is because of the concern for receiving negative PR. But you can't speak a foreign language at the table and you can't have an IPhone, but someone can whisper in your ear what other players are doing and possibly how to play your hand? Don't get me wrong I feel bad that he's blind, but this shouldn't be allowed.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

Would it really be good for poker if the blind man would make it real deep in the ME?

Honestly, I don`t know about that.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

Wow you guys are dicks. The guy is f-ing blind. Give him a break. Do you really think this is some blind poker strategy expert and his tell-master prodigy assistant teaming up to gain an unfair advantage? Oh, and sory you were so grossed out by the guy with no arms. He should definitely not be allowed in a casino.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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Wow you guys are dicks. The guy is f-ing blind. Give him a break. Do you really think this is some blind poker strategy expert and his tell-master prodigy assistant teaming up to gain an unfair advantage? Oh, and sory you were so grossed out by the guy with no arms. He should definitely not be allowed in a casino.

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seriously, wtf?
I can gaurantee you that that guy's feet were cleanter than 99% of poker players' cum stained hands.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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[ QUOTE ]
Wow you guys are dicks. The guy is f-ing blind. Give him a break. Do you really think this is some blind poker strategy expert and his tell-master prodigy assistant teaming up to gain an unfair advantage? Oh, and sory you were so grossed out by the guy with no arms. He should definitely not be allowed in a casino.

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seriously, wtf?
I can gaurantee you that that guy's feet were cleanter than 99% of poker players' cum stained hands.

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I LOLed

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

If Harrah's did ban him from playing, they could be getting a call from the ACLU or some other such group due to violation of some part of the Americans with Disabilites Act. If the guy has 10K and wants to put it up to play and only requires "reasonable accomodations", then Harrah's has to let him play.

Having a person sit behind him and tell him his hole cards and the action while revealing nothing else is a reasonable accomodation. Letting a guy pick up his cards with his feet instead of his hands is absolutely a reasonable accomodation.

Plus the PR Harrah's would get if they said no when the blind guy already had his own reasonable accomodation lined up (i.e.- he brought his own hole card reader) is way outweighed by just letting him play.

Now if the guy signed up and said Harrah's had to provide him with a hole card reader or something like that, I can see them saying no.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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Wow you guys are dicks. The guy is f-ing blind. Give him a break. Do you really think this is some blind poker strategy expert and his tell-master prodigy assistant teaming up to gain an unfair advantage? Oh, and sory you were so grossed out by the guy with no arms. He should definitely not be allowed in a casino.

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nh, sir.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

AC...I totally agree that Harrah's let him play to avoid bad press. To be fair, what about the one player per hand rule? As gross as I think the guy reading his cards with his feet was, at least he was able to play his own hand with no assistance. If the blind guy can get someone to tell him his cards why couldn't that poor bastard get someone to tell him what his cards were instead of flashing his nutsak to everyone at the table every hand?

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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But you can't speak a foreign language at the table and you can't have an IPhone, but someone can whisper in your ear what other players are doing and possibly how to play your hand?

[/ QUOTE ]Are you seriously worried that this guy is cheating somehow? IPhones and foreign languages are banned to prevent people from having information they shouldn't- do you really think Lubarsky is playing with information he shouldn't have? How is he gaining this extra information- it's not like his assistant is privy to more information than anyone else.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

I'm just saying that rules are rules - there shouldn't be exceptions. This was done to make Harrah's look better and for ESPN to have a nice story for TV. At least the guy with no arms was actually playing his cards without any assistance (except from the dealer moving chips in and out of the pot). I'm not saying he's cheating or that he would.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

I totally disagree. Poker is a game played by one person per hand. Any deviation from that gives that player an edge (even if very small) over the other people at the table. I am not saying he is cheating or getting information that is not available to the other players, but the way in which his hand is being played *could* provide him with an edge that is not available to the other players. He has one less thing to concern himself with at the table and that could be developed into an edge.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

Personally, I think that the card readers should have been provided by Harrahs and rotated in and out at random times by the TDs. It is not that Lubarsky would or could cheat, it is the appearance of fairness. I don't know the logisitics being used, but other than the precise cards in the blind player's hand, I would think that it would be "more fair" for the reader to announce all other action aloud so everyone heard exactly what the blind player heard.

Aside: I have played low stakes poker with a guy who was legally blind in Atlantic City. He was able to see his own cards, but had to hold them up to his face. The dealer would announce the board cards and the action to the entire table so that everyone heard the same information. The player sat in the one seat so that he could hear the dealer clearly over the other sounds of the poker room. He wasn't very good anyway...

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

How about they just record what the reader says?

"The guy in seat 2 is named Mike, he folded." okay
"Mike scrunched his eyebrows when the flop came out." okay
"Mike's probably got you beat." no.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

I can't believe some of you are worried about the card reader violating the one player per hand rule. It's not like Phil Ivey is his assistant (although that would be a funny mspaint). If the guy were good enough at cards to coach a blind guy through the main event don't you think he would be playing the event himself?

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

I believe he does a little more than just read the board. For example, someone in a previous thread said that he was describing the people around him and described the 2+2r as "Avalanche" because of his large stack of chips. Now, I know that is just an objective description, but what if he said, "Seat 4 is playing weak, tight" or some other comment that is more subjective? Would that be allowed?

I am for letting the guy play because (1) it is likely required by law, (2) the right thing to do, and (3) the guy has been a regular for years in Vegas (it isn't as if this is some publicity ploy). But, the idea that the whisperer be someone he doesn't know sounds reasonable if that person is only supposed to be giving objective information like reading the board.

An interesting side note ... we have a person in our monthly tournament who is losing his sight. We read him the board. I was talking to him the other day about tells, and he is aware of how he asks what the board is may let us know the strength of his hand. He tells me he sometimes asks for information that he already knows/remembers so as to throw us off.

NCAces

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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How about they just record what the reader says?

"The guy in seat 2 is named Mike, he folded." okay
"Mike scrunched his eyebrows when the flop came out." okay
"Mike's probably got you beat." no.

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Jack....I hope you are kidding.
I would love to be able to enter a tourney and have someone concentrate on player reaction while I crunch numbers. Tell ya what. I'll play you heads up with my eyes closed the whole time but I get to have someone whispering to me the whole time following your rules of what is OK and what is not.
Sound good?

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

I heard he has a small group of supporters known as the braille-birds.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

Crunch numbers? What the hell are you talking about? (If poker math is that hard for you I'm gonna suggest no 10k buyin tourneys.) This is ridiculous, the blind guy is still at a disadvantage, obviously the card reading person isn't going to offer as much information as someone with his experience would be able to see. I honestly don't know what the hell is wrong with you guys, thinking he has some enormous advantage by being blind. If it's so great, go stab your eyes out and get the monies.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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I'm just saying that rules are rules - there shouldn't be exceptions. This was done to make Harrah's look better and for ESPN to have a nice story for TV. At least the guy with no arms was actually playing his cards without any assistance (except from the dealer moving chips in and out of the pot). I'm not saying he's cheating or that he would.

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LOL.. NO, this one done because he has every legal right to play.

To those that have played with him, how and when is his partner relaying info. Ex. He tells him his hole cards, and then what? I'm just wondering if he just whispered the hole cards and everthing else was verbal enough for everyone else to hear (action, stack sizes, etc.) or if he whispered that info as well.

Do you guys really think he is getting MORE information by having his assistant there? Are you kidding me? He is getting at least 10x LESS info.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

From the WSOP Rules....
The one-player-to-a-hand rule will be compulsory.

Someone PLEASE tell me how this guy is not violating this rule. I don't give a rats ass about his personal situation. I could come with 100 other situations that would make it impossible for someone to play without violating this rule. Does that mean they should all be permitted to play too just because they have the 10k? Having the buy-in is only a PART of the requirement to play in this event. The other is being able to play the game with no assistance.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

Braille cards!!??
...and the dealer announcing the board and the bets?

Damn...
...braille chips??

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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Final proof that live tells are indeed overrated??

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Even though he cant see there are still plenty of tells for him to "see" so to speak.
He may actualy have an advantage in reading people's voice inflections,pacing, speech patterns etc... as I am assuming he would be more in tune with that. Would it be possible to play against him stating you are mute so you dont have to speak so he cant pick up on it? MAybe the Humberto thumbs up sign to raise then slide chips in silently.

And my two cents I would rather sit with the guy who plays with his feet than that smelly British guy or some fat bastard who stinks like ass and takes up 3 seats with half his gut hanging over your lap.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

Couldn't this guy fake being blind and have somebody help him out with his hand? Or did he have to show medical documentation to prove that he was blind?

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

I'm just wondering if he just whispered the hole cards and everthing else was verbal enough for everyone else to hear (action, stack sizes, etc.) or if he whispered that info a no just the hole cards are whispered the rest is so the table can hear what is said

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

What if he won the event and his assistant pulled off his mask "Mission Impossible" style and it was ZeeJustin?

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

Just a little taste from one of the many articles about this.....

And the readers do let little details slip through. When Lubarsky's reader told him two young men across the table were doing chip tricks, flipping the disks through their fingers, Lubarsky knew he was dealing with hot shots. Amateurs. Showoffs. He took this into consideration when he played his hand , and beat them both.

Now you can have whatever opinion you want about the value, or lack thereof, of that information. That's not the point. The point is that this second individual IS influencing how the hand is being played by seat #x and that violates the rules.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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What if he won the event and his assistant pulled off his mask "Mission Impossible" style and it was ZeeJustin?

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And then Hal also pulls off his mask and he too is ZeeJustin!

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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The point is that this second individual IS influencing how the hand is being played by seat #x and that violates the rules.

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Did his assistant say "You have two hotshots across from you, play them this way..."?

Or did he just report the facts, like your two functioning eyes do for you?

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

Ok who wants to pay his assistant $50,000 to tell him the wrong hand so it causes him to bust out.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

I'm starting to think Lubarsky may only be sightless while so many others are the ones who are truly 'blind'.

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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I heard he has a small group of supporters known as the braille-birds.

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can't believe this didn't get more love..... NH lol

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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I would love to be able to enter a tourney and have someone concentrate on player reaction while I crunch numbers. Tell ya what. I'll play you heads up with my eyes closed the whole time but I get to have someone whispering to me the whole time following your rules of what is OK and what is not.
Sound good?

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So u are saying you would play poker better if you were blind and had someone whispering your hole cards to you? Why? Wouldn't you rather be able to see your opponents for yourself and make your own judgments rather than rely on someone else's eyes?

The idea that this is some huge advantage for the blind guy is silly. Bottom line: he cannot play unless someone tells him what cards he has. It is wrong to deny him the chance to play when a simple adjustment ("reasonable accommodation" in ADA terms) can allow him to participate.

And as for the guy who played with his feet... if u lost your arms tomorrow u think you should be banned from poker tournaments because some random opponent thinks feet are "gross"?

Re: HAL LUBARSKY. BLIND MAN TO GO ALL THE WAY
 

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Would it be possible to play against him stating you are mute so you dont have to speak so he cant pick up on it? MAybe the Humberto thumbs up sign to raise then slide chips in silently.

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If you want to do this you can...you do not have to speak.. just put your chips in the pot if you want to raise. You don't have to say a word. Is it probably in your best interest to state your actions, sure, but not required.