One of the reasons that the lack of empathy on the Pokercast concerns me is because the hosts missed a wonderful opportunity to raise the level of the conversation and insert a little empathy.

People participate in activities, such as poker tournaments, at levels that are comfortable for them. In my particular community of interest, I know people who attend conferences which are basically the World Series of Poker to us - the conference comes around once a year and we all look forward to it. In past years I met an observant Jewish family attending a conference and they skipped the dance, the pool party and a few other really great parts of the event. People kept trying to persuade the family to participate more. The family kept explaining to folks that they were participating at the level they could. It was against their faith to have men and women dancing together, so they could not attend the dance, etc.

Folks kept pushing. The family never came back.

I always get the feeling from the Pokercasts hosts that it is in poker's best interest to bring more people into the sport. On the same episode, 230, the hosts were discussing how great it would have been to have women at the final table of the main event. I know some pretty wealthy observant folks - their money at the poker table should be encouraged. Reprimanding observant poker players for living their values is not the way to bring more people into poker.

The hosts, who do an awesome job week after week, have a leak in their game - not enough empathy for people who hold different beliefs.

Yes, we would probably make jokes about them as well. If you know of any, please post them here, and I guarantee jokes will be made.

Unless this is a Dancing and Pool Party conference you are referring to, your example does not apply here.

Though I admit freely that going to a Dancing and Pool Party conference knowing that you won't be dancing or getting in the pool is stupid and you should expect to be mocked for the decision to attend.

We aren't making fun of his beliefs, we're calling him out on his stupidity to play in an event that his beliefs for all practical purposes prevent him from playing.

No one is telling this man he shouldn't play poker or shouldn't play at the WSOP. I made the obvious point on the program that he could have played in multiple other events that did not run between 8pm Friday Night and 8pm Saturday.

I am guessing there are 40-50 other WSOP events that would not have conflicted with his belief. If he wants to light a match to his equity so be it, but we have every right to say it was a stupid decision for him to sign up for an event that he can't see through to the finish, especially at the most critical time of the event.

Imagine a high stakes 18 hole golf match for 50K a hole. The first 12 holes are played normally, but the last 6 holes you had to do mandatory Jagerbomb shooters from topless waitresses(these tourneys exist BTW) which goes against some people's moral and religious code. Could you possibly imagine someone signing up to play in this event, knowing they could only play the first 12 holes and they would lose 300K on those last 6 holes by sitting out. Even if it's your favorite course and you think you have a huge edge on the other player(s) in the match, virtually no one would be stupid enough to play.

Bringing new people to poker doesn't mean they all have to play the WSOP Main Event. This guy has 144 other hours in the week he can enjoy the game, why be stupid enough to invest your 10K into the one event that you can't play in.

The skeptic in me wonders if he went into the event hoping this might happen so he could draw attention to himself and his beliefs knowing the story of him abandoning his stack would get him on ESPN.

Ok, so as poker players why should we have empathy for suckers who enter tournaments that they knowingly cannot complete?

If the guy wanted to play a little cash, fine....but as someone stated before, I find this persons squandering of EV against my personal beleifs. IMHO, within THIS community (i.e. poker palyers), I would be suprised if he wasnt ridiculed for his decision. It has nothing to do with his religious beleifs, but with his decision making.

Now, can we all agree to move past this. We can agree that he's entitled to his beleifs. We can agree that his beleifs cost him EV. Peoples thoughts/feelings on this will vary, but I for one am getting tired of reading the same BS Over and Over. The religions forum is <---- That way.

Only 30 min into show so far.

Agree with Adam, the Tues highlight shows will not be that great. Doesn't matter if there are other table action. Just isn't enough time to show real poker hands. Mostly just flips or river showdown poker.

Now this is the type of golf I'd like to see on TV!

Real classy. His values and choices are different then yours and that makes him stupid.

He won about $30,000. He stopped playing on the Sabbath. His values are simply different then yours.

More empathy, less name calling.

Why don't you invite this guy on the Pokercast? Would you use the word "stupid" when talking to him? Probably not. You would probably realize that the guy was sincere. You may even understand his position better. That is what we call empathy.

Seriously, if you don't see how he is stupid, then your stupid.

He made a foolish decision in my opinion. It doesn't make him a bad person. It does make him a terrible gambler.

More class.

This is of course one of the reasons it would have been nice for the hosts to take the conversation to a higher level. But instead, they set the tone of using words like "stupid."

Of course I will keep listening. The hosts bring a very high level of commentary to poker, but they should consider commentating less on other topics. They just aren't up for it.

While I have made my feelings felt on this topic, attacking the hosts is not good. You yourself bring the level of the conversation down by saying things like "real classy." If you want a serious conversation then it takes you to make that happen as well and to have patience. You don't though and you just start attacking Mike. Refine your arguments and refine you answers to different points before you just start going off on other people.

The hosts have handled themselves poorly on air and are digging the hole deeper in the discussion forum. Using words like stupid and foolish just show them to be on tilt at best and intolerant at worst.

I expect more from them. They are using the microphone in a way that, in my opinion, promotes or suggests intolerance. They should be leaders, not following the herd.

Enough of this, I just want to know...What would J.Mascis do, elber?

J Mascis would probably pretend that what he was good at doing meant nothing to him. Then he would go on to record 8-9 crappy albums.

I've already stated elsewhere that I find it offensive for someone to disregard EV in the manner that this guy did. This is perhaps a minority opinion, as most poker players would be happy that the guy abandoned his stack. The change in table dynamics because of a dead stack is also grossly unfair to the rest of the table.

I'm a amateur player. This doesn't reflect on my lack of skills, but rather to the fact that I have a day job. I have been burned in the past by Tournament Directors who have done a poor job of communicating their schedule (starting a "two-day" tournament on a Saturday but playing the FT on a Monday for example.) If I have work obligations then I simply cannot participate in an event that might require my presence in two places at once. I don't see much of a difference in this case. Nash knew he had obligations on Saturday that would prevent him from playing. Thus he should not have entered the event. Its very simple.

Jews and Seventh-Day Adventists are the two largest groups that celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday. I'm curious what sect Nash belongs to and would love to hear more about their particular rules. Its unusual that a religion with such a strict interpretation of the Sabbath rules would actually allow someone to gamble in the first place. It was pointed out in the NVG thread how Jewish folks- even very orthodox ones- would likely find some type of Talmudic workaround in order to keep playing.