Daniel Negreanu is WRONG!
I usually respect Daniel's opinions but I do feel that he is way off here. In his most recent blog entry he challenged Tournament Directors to get rid of the the rule that you cannot expose cards during a hand when there is still action pending. Here is the quote from Daniel "Then I squeezed my cards. After squeezing the first card, I revealed it to Sammy. Remember now, this is REAL poker, with no interference from tournament directors that are trying to take the psychological aspect of the game away from us. Frankly, it's a tragedy what these tournament directors are doing. The players need to unite and get rid of this ridiculous rule that prevents players from showing their hole cards in heads up pots. I don't know of ANY professional player who thinks this rule has any value. Ask anyone from Phil Hellmuth to Howard Lederer and they will tell you that the right to show a card is part of the game."
First of all it was during High Stakes Poker and NOT a tournament, I agree that in a live game showing cards is a legal move. He then goes on to say "Taking this out if the game is so unnerving to me. What's next, no speaking at the table? No prodding for information? Then finally, no bluffing at all? It's absurd! I would happily challenge Matt Savage, Jack McLelland, and any other tournament director in favor of this rule to a public debate on the merits of it. The only reason I've ever heard them give is that it prevents people from "needling" their opponents. Give me a break! We are poker players here and don't need anyone out there to hold our hand. It's free information, and if the guy doesn't want to look, he doesn't have to.
Has anyone ever heard of a poker player getting upset, and thinking it was "unfair" that an opponent, in a heads up pot, showed him a card either during or after the hand? Are you kidding me? It's time that we rethink some of the rules and ask ourselves if they really make any sense at all. This one, the "how one show all" rule, clearly doesn't."
He is so WRONG here if he thinks that showing another player cards during the hand should be legal in tournaments. BTW, he also feels that you should be able to say whatever you want during the play of the hand. So I suppose he thinks what Jamie Gold did during the 2006 WSOP Main Event should also be allowed? Even Norman Chad and Lon Mechron could see that he was breaking the rules by claiming what he had in his hand with action pending. Here is just some of the problems that could arise if this was allowed. Let's suppose Daniel was involved with a friend of his and shows him the best hand before that person calls, should that be allowed Daniel? When you are in a tournament you are never heads up until there are two players left and TD's should not have to make constant judgment calls about whether there is collusion or not and that would definitely happen if this was allowed.
David Lamb writes "Remind Daniel that tournament player's are on a clock and the inevitable inequity occurs anytime one player takes a long time to do the mental sparring- showing or talking about their hand to induce action. It becomes more inequitable if the pro takes a long time messing with the amateur but not their contemporaries. In fact, it seems like allowing rules that favor the seasoned pro and prime time TV are more important than maintaining an even playing field."
While we all know it makes for great TV and it is what the Steve Lipscomb's of the world want we cannot make this concession in tournaments.
He mentions needling as the only reason we as TD's use that rule and that is just another reason to stop players from exposing their hole cards verbally or by showing cards. Could you imagine if players were allowed to show cards when they wanted to needle someone, some players would do this constantly and only to particular players. We need to create an event playing field and showing cards becomes totally subjective. I love Daniel but I would welcome a debate with him on the subject........BRING IT ON!
I welcome your opinions and thoughts on this topic, please send your emails to Matt@SavageTournaments.com.
Matt Savage
|