No offense meant to flag football players

I love watching poker on TV. I realize how strange it is to turn on a television and watch a card game, but there's plenty of betting strategy, personalities and thrills to keep me hooked. I also know I don't need to explain this since I'm obviously not the only one responsible for poker shows being so popular. One thing that drives me freaking NUTS is all the focus on amateur players.

Yeah, anyone can get lucky at the World Series of Poker, outdraw the pros and win millions. That's why I've stopped watching the World Series. If I'm going to watch a sport on TV, I want to watch the pros. Otherwise, I might as well stop everything I'm doing to watch kids play flag football. Unless they're YOUR kids, that's not a great way to spend an afternoon. Seeing amateurs make bonehead calls and then get lucky embodies everything that's annoying about the world. It shows loudmouthed morons succeeding against people who have studied, practiced or otherwise put in their time to excel at their craft. It shows that blind luck trumps skill and planning. It shows that quitting school and hanging out in bars PAYS off! And it shows that being a general a-hole is a good way to become rich.

Now, I'm not talking about ALL amateurs here. Some truly have skill and are just at the bottom of the ladder at the moment. They make good plays, take their beats like adults, and employ some sort of plan. The ones I'm talking about are the a-holes who pump their fists and taunt their opponents after going all in with three-ten off suit and flopping a ten-ten-three. Sure, that's a cause for celebration but don't strut for the rest of the night like THAT was your master plan. Phil Helmuth may be an ass, but at least he relies on something other than blind luck. Mike Matusow may taunt and torment the other players, but he KNOWS how to play the game.

Bring back the Professional Poker Tour!! Show more High Stakes Poker! I saw a fairly recent Poker After Dark where three internet players went against three seasoned pros. Those internet guys were tough players, didn't scream and did very well. All three of them looked like kids, but they handled themselves better than the jerk-off who mimicked Sam Farha TO HIS FACE at a World Series a few years back. That makes me long for the good old days where idiots like that were taken to a back room and taught to use their "indoor voice".

Year of The Mouth?

I just finished watching Poker After Dark. After 10 straight losses, Mike Matusow FINALLY won one!! He was playing against Andy Black, so I would have been fine if either one of them won. Andy’s a gentleman player with some real skill and Mike has become a personal favorite of mine.

Sure, when I watched Matusow play several World Series of Pokers ago, I couldn’t help but notice what a complete dick he was. Taunting other players, strutting, screaming, CRYING. The man actually cried after taking a bad beat. What the hell? There’s no crying in poker no matter how much it’s warranted. They call him The Mouth for a reason, but still. Not the sort of guy who grows on you.

I don’t keep track of personal stuff with these players, but he’s changed. Mike’s still The Mouth, but he’s toned it down just enough for me to relate to him. Sure, it may be obnoxious, but who hasn’t carried on a bit too much after a savory win? Haven’t we all flipped some grief to other players no matter what game we were involved in? Then there’s Poker After Dark. Mike’s been in 10 of these things without winning once. Many times, he gets beaten by truly horrific strokes of bad luck that would have brought ME to tears. But Mike kept plucking away.

Any writer who’s made it to any level knows a thing or two about coming back from being knocked down. The more I see Mike play, the more I find myself rooting for the guy. He does make some truly great plays. His skill at reading other players can be uncanny. Then, again, he may just throw it away with a famous blow-up where he puts it all in for some unknown reason with a crappy hand. Even then, more often than not, he’ll admit he screwed up. Plenty of professional players out there would rather call someone an idiot for calling a bluff than admit any sort of mistake was made. As a guy who’s screwed up plenty of times, I can respect someone who at least admits it when they derailed. And still, Mike comes back with his eyes on the prize.

Well, tonight Mikey won! I hate to see Andy Black lose, but Mike put in his time for this one. It’s nice to see good things come to those who keep fighting for them. Go get ‘em, Mouth. Just don’t let this go to your head.