I am deeply offended as well, that this supposed card player, a man of equities, a man of combinations, a man of principles! would light a huge pile of money on fire in favour of the hubris of religion. Shame on him. He laughs in the face of every hard working poker player and belittles our beliefs in EV and the purity, the sanctity, of no limit holdem.

And then OP has the nerve, the gall if you will, to defend him. OP is obviously a devil-worshipper, a poker satanist. Confess your sins at the altar of the holy dealer button or forever be card dead! I feel sorry for you, that you are so insensitive to the hopes and dreams of everyone who enters the main event. I can put you in touch with no one.

Adam, it is one thing to make a joke or make fun of things. I am Jewish (secular) and I found the Hitler video just posted on this site hilarious. But on the Pokercast (#230) the hosts seriously suggested that the poker player should forget his faith (or his family's faith) for a day because the Main Event is such a big and profitable event. That is the same as someone suggesting that you should forget your morals and cheat in the Main Event, just this one time, because it is a huge event.

To be clear, I am not responding to your Twitter comment, I am responding to this idea that the player should have put his faith aside for a day. Listen back to the episode - it sure didn't come across as a joke or making fun, but as serious commentary. The hosts demonstrated a deep misunderstanding and perhaps intolerance of observant people. My guess is that you just don't know anyone who is observant. If you did, you would not suggest cheating faith for a day.

For what it is worth, the Pokercast is awesome and you all do great work. It was great to hear Gavin Smith - I miss hearing him on my iPod.

I volunteer 20 or more hours a week for a non-profit, no pay, so I appreciate the work you do. But I also think that the latest episode deserves some frank responses. A little empathy on your part would probably go a long way on this issue. My non-profit work has brought me into contact with some observant Jews. I also taught non-religious classes in a mostly observant graduate program. The observant folks I know would not cheat at faith for a day the same way you would not cheat at poker for a day.

Thanks for the mentions for my Hitler video guys!
Loved the show.

Call the pedantry police, but the highest finish by a Stars Pro would have been Raymer in 2005 when he almost went back to back finishing 25th. Heitmann was 26th.

It is one thing to make fun of things. It is one thing to make a joke. To be clear, it is one thing. Hopefully you can come to realize this one day, after you clean up your life a bit.

belief in a magic being in the sky is not valid. Once you understand that then you will realize how foolish this entire debate is.


btw not 1 single person cares that you work for a non-profit.

I don't know why you guys have to attack OP with such a harsh and insulting tone. It's possible to talk about this stuff in a reasonable way without causing people to become defensive/hostile. FWIW, I'm I am not religious at all, but you guys are out of line imo.

In regards to the player in the ME. I don't know why he would sign up to play knowing that would face this situation. Maybe he's got money to burn and just wanted the experience of playing in the ME for a bit. Anyway, though I would not personally choose to do this and I personally do not believe in religion, I respect his loyalty to his beliefs.

Whilst I think what the player did in the ME was silly I have no issue with it.

I do have an issue with people getting sand in their vagina over absolutely nothing

Dude, HE NEVER SHOULD HAVE ENTERED THE TOURNAMENT. He made a huge mistake, because if he feels that strongly about his wife's faith then he could clearly look at the schedule and see that it is going to a problem if he is successful. So sick of this...and I attend church. It's just ridiculous if you think there was even a hint of malice. They are saying the guy was burning money and he was. When he paid for his entrance, he knew that the most he would be getting back was about 4 times that if he ran like _ _ _.

The bottom line is that there is no right to not be offended. Offense is created in the mind of the listener/reader not in the words of the speaker/writer. It is equally plausible that someone could be offended on behalf of the equities -- which is to say equally absurd.

The blind out dude should be mocked freely. He is living proof that humans are stupid after all. And no level of decorum is necessary by the way, the level of decorum we choose merely reflects upon ourselves. So allow us to choose to be harsh and insulting.

Still on 228. That is what vacations do to my pokercast listening.

I wonder if the man in question was ever taught by a female. Because as we all know that is against scripture (old testament).

If so, hes off to burn in hell with the rest of us.

However if he did not play because of his wifes ridiculous beliefs then he shouldnt be mocked for his beliefs. just for the fact that he is so so so pussy whipped

Only thing you need to know us Newerle final table the Main Event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYW2xXxFVtU

I agree with Bill Maher on this one.

Those who are attacking the player for 'burning money', would you also be attacking him if he got super tilted and shoved all in every hand until he busted? I bet there a couple of players who did that at the ME, but we are not having a go at them.

Its his money, he can do what he wants.

Nope.
Cheating in the main event has real consequences for not only the cheater but the other players. That is why majority of people think it is ethically wrong. This is how morals work in real life. They only really matter when they have an effect on you and even more importantly others around you. That is not even remotely close to deciding to not play due to faith based reasoning. (lolfaithbasedreasoningaments)

One is funny as hell and the other makes you a cheating douchbag.