i feel like this article deserves it's own thread. Great read

http://calvinayre.com/2015/06/29/pok...-hear-by-obst/

Great read indeed.

I do love me some James Obst.

It's an important angle to come at it from for sure.

great article.

to summarize what he said, "complaining is for b*****s" and for some reason the majority of poker pro's feel like they never deserve to lose in a game of gambling.

I consider myself a part of the poker world, and I wanted to hear that.

The golf analogy is fantastic.

The top players in golf set the tone for the game by calling penalties on themselves (that sometimes no one else would notice) that cost them tens of thousands in prize money while putting sportsmanship and a love of the game over personal/professional gain. The top players in poker, as we have seen to well, often behave in a shady/corrupt manner or rationalize the shady acts of others with a "everyone does it" mentality.

VS is a very intelligent woman and an excellent player. If she had read this piece before posting in the BH's thread I believe she would have done so very differently.*



*At least I hope

He should stop asking to see peoples hands when they muck.

Good on you James

Is link working for everyone else?
Would love to read this but its not coming up

Worked for me last night and it just worked now as well.

Solid read and I am happy to see someone come forth and speak about these things rather than try to sweep it under the rug.

Happy to see it get its own thread as well.

Still waiting for PS to get here and make a statement but like a few people had mentioned: They would not be shocked if PS ended up signing him to a deal after all of this

Great stuff from James - always been one of my favorite online players, even when he was beating me underage!

meh. He's displeased that poker isn't more like golf. I find poker more entertaining due to the distinctive player personalities.

great insight by Obst

Also, hats off to Lee Davy the reporter/author. love his style and that he has his finger on the pulse of important stuff in the industry. if you don't follow him, you should . pens all sort of stuff about the industry.

LOL at comparing poker to golf. Golf is for the rich folk and the pros are rich as ****, meanwhile poker is a means for an uneducated fool to make a living. ****ing horrible comparison, if anything poker is like fighting in the UFC. In the past you could just show up put work in and if you had skills you could **** **** up and get a name in fighting and in poker. Now you have to run the gauntlet to even get close to the top as there is so much competition on both fields.


There's so much ****ing money in golf for a pro, how could you ever compare it to poker except during the poker boom.

An interesting read, but realistically it also shows a bit of a disconnect as well with the bulk of the players in this industry.

He maintains:

"I believe the problem starts at the top. The highest profile players (think Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth – I’ll leave out Dan Bilzerian) receive so much attention that they are essentially the role models for the industry. I also believe in the phrase ‘monkey see, monkey do."

and I can understand why he would believe that from his perspective, but having worked with hundreds (and possibly thousands) of players who will never play against Hastings, Hellmuth etc (and have no real desire to do so) - the reality is that the vast majority of players play their games for fun or as a potential source of income.

The antics of those "at the top" at this point in the industry is more akin to a niche version of the magazines that ponder whether Jennifer Aniston is pregnant or not. Mildly amusing to read for those into such gossip, but otherwise of no impact on day to day life.

Years ago the poker celebrity was more important as the industry was unregulated and exploding, and even D level "celebrities" were shown playing poker on TV. Those days are done, and at this point the poker celebrity is effectively dead for the bulk of the industry.

With that said, I certainly agree with his general assessment on Hastings as well as his believe that it is time for Pokerstars to put up or shut up as unlike individual celebrities like (as he mentioned) the pretty female posting selfies - Pokerstars itself is a very important driving force in the industry so hopefully they will get this one right.

hmmm, not working on computer or phone-telling me error with host name. Will continue trying

The golf analogy is not really what you should focus on.

He has spoken against what Hastings did and put himself out there as a fairly well known player while most of the others stay silent on the subject (Maybe after WSOP has finished this will change)

The rest of the comment on the current poker industry/social media is pretty insightful too.

You're missing the point of the analogy.

Golf pros make so much money because of sponsors.

Big mainstream sponsors do not want to associate with a game littered with so many high level players with questionable ethics and a scandal-of-the-month feel to it.

The analogy is a good one. If you want to improve poker and public perceptions of those that play it, try raising expectations.

A golf pro will routinely penalize himself (sometimes costing him a stroke and hundreds of thousands of dollars for the win) for breaking a rule that only he himself saw him do. That's putting your honor and integrity and the reputation of the game above personal results. That's something with which a sponsor would not hesitate to associate. Poker, not so much ...

Thank you James Obst for making it so easy to read. Great article by a intelligent fellow.

And I already liked this guy as a player and now this. Great article.. Obst for 2015 ME champion!

great article indeed,
but i dont think its feasible to getpoker to that level of a gentlemans game, unfortunately

good interview James Obst