Friday, December 23, 2005

Much ado about everything?

If you've been following the WPT at all recently (which I assume the 3 or 4 of you that regularly read this blog do), you've noticed the recent "stink" being created by certain Full Tilters regarding the release the WPT forces its participants to sign beforing entering an event. My initial reaction to this was that it was a gross overreaction by very smart people (even smart law people in Andy Bloch's case). I was in Greenstein's camp in this recent article on ESPN.com:

"We were all degenerate gamblers until TV came along,'' Barry Greenstein summarized with a smile, "and now we got made into celebrities and we're complaining to the people who made us marketable and famous that they don't want them to show us anymore without our approval.''

Then I read Negreanu's blog today. At the end (following some rather silly musings regarding the first season of Survivor (?!) and Paula Abdul) he drops what has to be considered a virtual bomb coming from a 2-time WPT winner: "[U]ntil further notice, based on that scary e-mail [from WPT founder Steve Lipscomb], I just don't think I'd be able to play on the WPT." I think it's a "wow" for two reasons. First, obviously, when players like Negreanu start boycotting your tournament (and potentially influencing others to do the same) you've got a problem. And second, less obvious, is the way Danny has, essentially, pulled Lipscomb's pants down in a very public forum. From they way it reads, he's basically saying, "hey man, I trust you and like you and all, but this policy you're trying to perpetuate is patently absurd." Very interesty.

No comments: