"In retrospect it was a mistake to allow them entry," Hollreiser stated. “Our tournaments are designed to promote poker and poker competition and not as a platform for political statements.“

“Players have many channels to express their views on world politics, but our tournaments are not an appropriate place,” he continued. “We will refuse entry to any player displaying political statements of any kind.”

"In retrospect it was a mistake to attempt to censor entrants," PokerMoons stated. "Our tournaments involve people risking 50,000 Euros, no small sum, and they are not a platform for the repression of free expression, which is a foundation for the society in which we operate. The freedom to play poker, in fact, extends logically from the freedoms afforded by western, liberal democracy. PokerMoons would never claim or pretend it is power greater than that, particularly in adjudicating the meaning of two words in juxtaposition."

"Players have many channels to express their views on world politics, such as what they say and wear on their own bodies, and Busquet was appropriately reserved on the coverage," he continued. "We are a poker company. We are not in the business of censoring respectful, thoughtful players in a war-torn world of senseless death and mayhem."

Nike sponsored events blur out Adidas all the time -- it is an easy fix that avoids flexing power and authority over people's rights. Telling people to take off a T-shirt is something no company wants; it is the wrong play PR-wise anyways. You risk appearing (not to mention, being) bullying.

If there is a TV-contract that Busquet signed before entering where he said that he wants to pay 50k Euro and be told what to wear, that is something else. What a great deal that would be. Pitch: "Pay rake on 50k Euros, sign away your rights, and get bossed around by duckspeakers, because we put it on a live internet stream, for our own promotion and profit!"

"In retrospect it was a mistake to allow them entry." -- This was probably also said in haste. I don't know Hollreiser, or if he knows what the freedoms he exercises rests upon, but he didn't examine that basis before saying what he did. The statement is either laughable, ignorant, or deeply profane. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and go with laughable. Easy mistake to make, getting too big for your britches is.

Boy am I glad to see you.

one of the great NVG thread titles

Pretty cool his and his t-shirts. They make a cute couple.

I don't disagree with your outlook, in fact I have a very similar one. I was just stating that politics in general usually offend a lot more than curse words or nudity. Political ideology's and religious views are the two things in this world that cause more harm globally than anything else. I want to add that if you look at it from the business point of view as Pokerstars is, you wouldn't want such controversial topics being promoted in company endorsed poker tournaments. It's bound to offend a lot of people in one way or another and that's just bad for business.

Nail in coffin.

I find it a fun coincidence that the exact only two people who walked in wearing overly controversial t-shirts also took 1st and 2nd respectively and... if they hadn't gone heads-up there likely wouldn't have been an initial reaction of it's caliber.

this ... sure, most of ppl would agree that 'harmless' stuff like "free tibet" is cool, but what if PS allows such political statements and some weirdo will show up with something really harsh/sick/ugly.

imagine someone at the ft w/ a shirt from a right wing extremist party w/ a slogan about deporting foreigners from the country? what about a "Franco was a great dictator"-shirt in spain? or what if a FT player would have worn a pro war against gaza shirt? ... would that still be acceptable?

What if some shirt about "white power" or the denial of the holocaust ... still political statement and freedom of speech ("acceptable" at a poker tournament)?

there are far more scenarios, where a political statement isn't appropriate at a televised FT.


it's pretty ridiculous to think it's okay, to have nudity banned (in a casino, where everyone is old enough), but say it's okay, to allow shirts w/ a statements about a conflict, where ppl die.

both could wear their shirts, but now ps says they don't want to have 'political statements' . this is totally okay imo (but obv just my 2cts)

Hmmm, Political statements of any kind? So if that is the case I somehow missed the outrage over players wearing PPA patches. Most certainly THAT is a political message..

What Dan and Olivier wore seemed far more of an humanitarian message than political, they were raising awareness/attention to a population of people that are suffering, much in the same way that ONE DROP raises awareness and money for another less fortunate population.

Once you begin the process of censorship these challenges of definitions are going to present problems. There has never been outrage over a charity being promoted, why not a charity that raises money for the people of Palestine and call that charity "Save Palestine" and no new T-shirts need printed.. Now that offends some people so will PStars do away with any Charity being promoted?

Welcome to a slippery slope!

Freedom of expression, Free speech means absolutely nothing without the license to offend. I am offended when Athletes thank God for their accomplishments but I would not ban them from doing so. If we censor everything that offends some group, then we might as well stop pretending to honor free expression..

Some people are just looking for things to get offended by.

They payed €50k to enter the tournament. They can wear what they want. Thumbs up to Colman and Busquet for promoting peace and not being afraid to stand by their opinions.

fyp for you. Seems like a no brainer. Luckily nobody was rocking a support Israel t-shirt or he probably would have been assaulted.

Busquet, a Columbia guy, suffers from ivyleagueitis, an affliction where an individual constantly remind other people of their ethical, civic-minded, intellectually serious life regardless of what they are actually doing. Busquet can do nothing all day but pushups and work on perfecting hand ranges but he, like Coleman, seems appalled by all the shabby people who surround him. I think Coleman and Busquet might now be emboldened by their new status as guys unafraid to "take on the system" and, when they are not partying in Barcelona or counting their millions, might be enlightening us with greater frequency

Do you have a copy of the terms they signed up to that precluded this?

Feel free to PM them to me if you don't want to post them on the forum.

Cheers.

Hollreiser: "Players have many channels to express their views on world politics, but our tournaments are not an appropriate place. We will refuse entry to any player displaying political statements of any kind."

Colman's next t-shirt slogan: "You mad bro?"

If they had worn pro-Israel shirts or Obama shirts, or even Ron Paul shirts, nobody would have cared. But because they promoted something unpopular, people are losing their **** and rules are getting changed. That's lame.

It amazes me that Colman is still playing poker after his statement on its evils. The guy has principles, just simple ideas and a stubborn personality. It makes a little more sense now since it's clear he's been mentored by a guy with terrible judgement. I lost a bunch of respect for Olivier, not for having his views, but for trying to shove them down our throats.

wat

So can i start printing IS shirts?

bhoylegend,

The rules are available online here:
http://www.europeanpokertour.com/about/rules/

Pokerstars spends millions on marketing.

Dangerous subversives spend $5 on t-shirts.

This one seems like a easy fix. If the tournament directors want to dictate a dress code it should be stated up front and players can choose whether to ante up or not.

Colman doesnt want to give interviews to promote poker, but has no problem using poker to promote politics

Wearing a t-shirt is not shoving it down anyone's throat. If he kept talking about it during the final table and in interviews, you could maybe make that point, but he's just wearing a shirt that supports a good cause that he believes in.

Do you also think a political bumper sticker is shoving opinions down other people's throats?

i don't see any problem with people expressing their beliefs. if they had shirts on expressing the other side's view, i bet you this would had never been a conflict.