[AcesUp]

I was at that final table with Todd, and just wanted to throw out a couple of points...

- First, I'm not a big fan of Todd, nor do I dislike him; I have no agenda here but to provide some commentary;

- I had played with Todd for much of the second day of the event, and never saw him do anything that resembled the kind of antics that he portrayed when it got down to the final 10. In fact, I think EVERYONE at that final table was confused by Todd's transformation from earlier in the day;

- Yes, ESPN did tell people to talk and emote, but they certainly never encouraged anyone (at least not me) to be obnoxious or to play up to the cameras.

- Todd mentioned in one of his posts on another forum that the announcers made everyone at the final table look bad. Perhaps I was watching a different broadcast, but I'd have to disagree. Costas was made out as a very strong, world-class player (and playing with him a couple times, I'd agree). Van Nuys was given the respect deserved of a former bracelet winner. E-Fro was made fun of a tiny bit, but overall was portrayed as a strong young player. And other than making fun of my stare and only showing two hands of my 3.5 hour marathon heads-up match, I didn't feel like I was portrayed in a negative light whatsoever;

- I've seen Todd since that event, and for the most part he is a very calm and rationale human being. As for his playing style, I must admit that I've never, ever seen anyone who is able to accumulate or lose chips in limit hold'em as he is; his play is super-aggressive and bordering on reckless, but if he can harness his enthusiasm he'll likely turn out a very decent player;

My take on Todd is very similar to my take on Phil Helmuth; they both love the attention and the cameras, and both lack some basic social skills that the rest of us have that keep us from doing stupid things when the lights are on us...


-Aces