Negreanu's latest blog update...

[Voltron87]

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let me get this straight: ESPN told everyone that if you finished in the top 20 of one of the circuit events or got to the final table of the main event you would qualify for the TOC 2,000,000 freeroll. Then ESPN adds 3 superstar players, which cuts into the 109 original players' equity, and this is a really really big deal? I'm not impressed Danny. He does not seem that intelligent from his writings, and his attempt to play the populist angle is just plain ugly. What exactly is the big deal here?

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The big deal is that the 2005 TOC was presented as a "no invite" tourney the whole time. There was no basis for adding three players to the tournament, and no criteria for picking those 3 players. Even if you wanted to make a case for Doyle and Johnny's inclusion--since they did both win a history-making 10th bracelet yada yada--how do you justify Phill's invitation?

No matter how you slice it, it's not cool to randomly invite 3 superstars at the last minute just because you feel like it. Danny's right, this isn't Kosher.

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I'm not really up on the specifics of this, so I don't know the details. Even if ESPN changed around their rules a bit, which they clearly have, they are not taking away any entries from qualfiers. At first I thought they kicked 3 amateurs out so the superstars could get in, and I thought "That's really, really [censored] up" but that's not what happened.

Sure, it isn't kosher and ESPN aren't following the terms they set out 100%. But I just don't see where much damage was done here, they are running a freeroll on their terms anyway.

Danny's writing really is poor, the whole populism bit is not good at all. It's corny and you can't invoke it on such a small slight,

Someone asked him this in the general forum of FCP and his answer was that he wouldn't and added: "I like to sleep at night".

Believe him or not as you wish. I'm not saying Negreanu doesn't have a hypocritical bone in his body - none of us are perfect in this regard. But I think Daniel is much more sensitive to issues of right and wrong than the large majority of poker players.

Sometimes narrow self-interest and principle conflict. I believe this is an instance where, for Daniel, they do. I don't believe he would have accepted an invitation into this event if asked.

And Daniel has been very vocal on various issues of concern to poker players in the past. I think he is trying to move things forward, but without most of the other top players joining in, any initiative would be doomed to failure.

[jeffraider]

I think it's pretty [censored] that Mark Seif isn't playing, he won two bracelets for god's sakes! And what about Dan Druff who won Player of the Year but no one has heard [censored] about that yet!

[benkahuna]

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No matter how you slice it, it's not cool to randomly invite 3 superstars at the last minute just because you feel like it. Danny's right, this isn't Kosher.

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[TheMainEvent]

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No matter how you slice it, it's not cool to randomly invite 3 superstars at the last minute just because you feel like it. Danny's right, this isn't Kosher.

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I would agree with you if it weren't a freeroll.

[shaniac]

Daniel's point was simple and uncontroversial. He used the lesser known players on the TOC list as a literary device, not as a bleeding-heart tactic. His journal entry could have been more concise but that's no reason to kill the messenger.

There is no winning argument for Harrah's side. It's awful for appearances, a totally half-assed and unfair gesture, and whichever whimsical character at the head offices of the WSOP OK'd this should realize by now that inviting the 3 non-qualifiers to the event was a fairly significant screwup.

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....promised them $18,350 in equity, but that at the last minute you took about $500 out of their pocket and only give them $17, 850 in equity?

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this is an outrage. if i were Bob Hume, Harry Cullen Jr., Corey Bierria, Jonathan Schecter, or Don Mullis, i wouldn't even bother to show up. lol

[shaniac]

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I would agree with you if it weren't a freeroll.

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This wasn't a freeroll, it was a Tournament of Champions. The players who made the cut EARNED it. You might not have liked the criteria for this year's TOC, but that's how it was presented and that's what they should stick to.

If they had said "Top 20 players from every Circuit Tour event get a seat....plus some last minute, surprise special invite-only guests" there would be no issue.

Someone, please make a cogent argument for why adding 3 pros last minute, at whim, to the lineup, is fair to either the qualifiers from the CTs or for other top pros and WSOP 2005-accomplished individuals who aren't lucky enough to be as markettable as Johnny Doyle Hellmuth.

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Someone, please make a cogent argument for why adding 3 pros last minute, at whim, to the lineup, is fair to either the qualifiers from the CTs or for other top pros and WSOP 2005-accomplished individuals who aren't lucky enough to be as markettable as Johnny Doyle Hellmuth.

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There won't be a 2006 TOC Freeroll if a bunch of Bob Hume, Harry Cullen Jr., Corey Bierria, Jonathan Schecter, Don Mullis final table this event.