Re: Daniel Negreanu is WRONG!
I'm late to this dance but I have to say I totally agree with Matt's comments in this thread. I am not going to beat up on Daniel but I do think he is claiming to be representing what is good for poker but in actuality is simply shaping an argument that presents what is good for him. That is fine and he is certainly entitled to posture however he wishes in his blog, but what is truly good for the game is to not modify rules designed to maintain the integrity of poker.
Ethical tests are ideal to use for establishing rules and procedures. Several people have mentioned how colluders can collude anyway so why use collusion as an argument supporting a rule that disallows revealing cards before the hand is over. The argument against that point is why would any right-minded tournament official support a rule that provides someone an additional avenue to not only collude but offer others at the table the opportunity to comment. In a tournament it adds a variable that would regularly require TD's to make subjective judgments as to whether or not someone either in the hand or worse, out of it, did something to effect play in an unfair manner. The responses of some that people would never collude in such a manner or would collude in other ways if they were inclined to collude doesn't hold any water when it comes to managing a tournament.
Two minor points:
I agree that there should not be a rule regarding showing both cards vs. one after the hand is over if you are so inclined. This demonstrates the need to get all poker rooms on a standard set of rules so we don't have to deal with nuances every time we play in a new room.
The Jamie Gold situation has been mentioned several times in this thread and has been beaten to death on these boards. It was a travesty that it was allowed to go on as it did. I am not saying he is the poster child for those who want poker tightened up or more restrictive in what can and cannot be done. But, his being able to repeatedly act as he did shows how subjective behavior by tournament officials may affect the outcome of a tournament. It needs to be more concrete and whittling away at existing rules to allow for better TV is not the way to do it.
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