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You are in: Home / Poker Blog Post / Behave Yourself

Behave Yourself

2008-03-07 17:46:30
By: Gene Bromberg

The vast majority of poker players know how to act at the table. When I covered the World Series of Poker last year I really didn't see that many examples of ghastly behavior. Oh sure, Hevad Khan went WAY over the top with his gorilla impersonations and "I'M GOOD AT BASKETBALL!!" nonsense. The less said about Humberto Brenes' charrrrk the better. And, on occasion, Phil Hellmuth can get a bit animated. Though I only saw the Poker Brat really act up but once during the WSOP. And I'm not including his grand entrance into the Main Event with a dozen leotarded models in his entourage.

But last week Harrah's announced some changes to their rules for the World Series, and the one that received the most attention was one governing conduct at the table. Allow me to quote from Rule 38:


The key words here are "excessive", "theatrics", "inappropriate", and "stanchions". The last word is important because I don't even know what the heck they're talking about when they say "stanchion". Are they talking about the poles that support the ropes that hold the spectators at bay? I understand the prohibition on chairs and tables. Of course Hevad Khan used chairs during some of his antics, and I saw a guy actually try to overturn an entire table after he took a bad beat. Not smart. He was hustled from the Amazon Room, never to be seen again.

So if you're playing in the World Series this year, best behavior is in order. Act like you've been there before. I'll be playing in my first WSOP event this year and I think I'm worried more about putting up a cool, collected front than displaying my mad poker skillz.

And if you think that this crackdown on trash-talking and general silliness is more bark than bite, well, no. A player at the final table of a World Series of Poker event at Caesar's Atlantic City--the chip leader, no less--was disqualified for acting up and refusing to tone it down. From the article by Bill Ordine:

According to the official tournament report, Thornburg had been given two warnings for unsportmanlike behavior the previous day. The behavior was described thusly: "Ceaseless display of loud comments and baiting tactics lasting several hours."

The final straw came when Thornburg was actually the beneficiary of great luck twice. On one all-in, his ace-7 was dominated by an opponent's ace-queen, but Thornburg caught a 7 to grab the chip lead. Then, two hands later, he knocked out a player in sixth place when Thornburg had 4-4 against 7-7 and caught a 4.

But then Thornburg lost control, the report said, and he "began jamming chips into the pot with reckless abandon." He was warned by tournament officials and finally, when he shoved half his stack into the pot and announced "all in," officials ejected him for the "annoying and confusing antics."

From what I've seen tournament directors and floorpeople don't like having to step in when people behave badly. They'd rather have everything run like clockwork. To take the extreme step of DQing a player at a final table--the chip leader yet--I have to think that Mr. Thornburg was repeatedly and egregiously at fault. It will be very interesting to see how these rules are enforced at the World Series. I don't think you'll see a player high-fiving his buddies after a double-up sanctioned, but will the powers-that-be have the confidence to come down hard on a big-name player who crosses the line? I'm hoping that these rule changes make for a more grown-up WSOP, but how this rule is enforced will make for an interesting subplot, at least during the first week or so of the Series. Can't wait.

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