Poker players & pros public image....

[citizennobody]

I play poker professionally with moderate to good results. I have tried working to support my family while finishing a Grad degree in Economics from UTEP, but haven’t had any luck and constantly fall back on poker and endure the pressure. I would do anything (within the rules) to win because I have 6 mouths to feed. I love this sport and I love the challenges and freedoms it has given me. I don’t have a big bankroll because I live off of mine and I haven’t gotten real lucky when I have needed to. In fact the 3 weeks I spent in Vegas were the unluckiest period of my career and I feel lucky to have only lost a $1000 (including expenses) because of all the 2 out draws that sent me to the rail everyday plus the limits I played in live action. Despite the luck, I did play extraordinarily well and I am VERY proud of that.

Besides my lackluster record, the badbeats, the slovenly players, and the stress….only ONE thing bugs me about poker. I hate people that judge the players. Phil Hellmuth is not a bad guy. Annie Duke is a wonderful person. Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak and Chip Reese are not maniacs. Just because you have a good or bad table image shouldn’t indict you for being certain type of person. I know that everything I do at a table is contrived and if I thought that I could put a player on tilt just by talking to them…I WOULD. I am so tired of defending Phil and Annie to the ignorami just because they heard this or that.

I sat outside the tournament room at the WSOP, taking a break one day and watched at least 50 people stop and talk to Annie. She was so polite and patient with each and everyone even when a couple asked who she was!!!! Phil is a nice guy away from the table and so are the other ‘maniacs’. Now I don’t have a lot of experience with these people but I have been around enough tournaments and seen how they comport themselves in public to make a judgment. Just because you are passionate about your play and use some acting to get reads doesn’t mean jack about who you are. I have been known to push some peoples buttons on a table but I am also a first to buy them a beer after the game.

It is the Johnny Chans, who was rude to me at the Golden Nugget when I said Hi that bother me. It is the Moneymakers that always have a smart comment outside the poker room that ruin an image. It is that player that you want to choke off the table that ruins this game for me. I would give anything to be where they are and have a good run breaking into that next level, but I don’t have the entry $$$ or the bankroll to take a chance…I have to grind away at 3/6, 4/8, 10/20, 15/30, 200max NL or any limit, for that matter, that looks good.

When are players going to get a clue and realize that they couldn’t hold a candle to these guys much less judge them. When is the stupidity going to stop. I give Moneymaker credit for playing like a rock the first few days then finally playing his rush. I give Chan credit for his back-to-back titles. I give Hellmuth credit for his 9 bracelets. I figure that if people can’t figure these guys out from the hours they have seen them on tv then they will never stand a chance. In other words….DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY THE COVER. Quit making poker a popularity contest. Poker is a game of numbers and psychology.