I didn't mean to offend you. I am also an Aspie and I don't understand when I'm being insensitive and emotional outbursts frighten and confuse me. I just wanted it to be made known that we are the future, to help fight against the prejudice that we are somehow inferior just because we don't groom our ape bodies with the proper arbitrary frequency.

Overall, the best man won and that's all there is to it.

Does he really have aspergers?

Think Beckley actually played pretty bad. Needed to be more aggressive in the big pots he played. That AQ hand vs Joe just before final table was cringeworthy. Played scared money and was lucky to get 2nd. Didn't play back at Joe at all much 3-4 handed when he should have. Think last years top 3, plus final 3 in 2012 all way way way better then Beckley.

That 3 barrel when he was HU seemed pretty bad especially his river bet size.

Joe reminds me of every school shooter ever, but damn he can win poker tournaments. This run that he is on is crazy.

From wiki:

"People identifying with Asperger syndrome may refer to themselves in casual conversation as aspies (a term first used in print by Liane Holliday Willey in 1999).

Some researchers have argued that AS can be viewed as a different cognitive style, not a disorder and that it should be removed from the standard Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, much as homosexuality was removed In a 2002 paper, Simon Baron-Cohen wrote of those with AS, "In the social world, there is no great benefit to a precise eye for detail, but in the worlds of maths, computing, cataloging, music, linguistics, engineering, and science, such an eye for detail can lead to success rather than failure." Baron-Cohen cited two reasons why it might still be useful to consider AS to be a disability: to ensure provision for legally required special support, and to recognize emotional difficulties from reduced empathy.Baron-Cohen argues that the genes for Asperger's combination of abilities have operated throughout recent human evolution and have made remarkable contributions to human history.




So I hope you see I was not being insulting when using the term "aspie" and I was also not being hyperbolic when claiming that aspies are the future.

Yeah its like the word ******

He had good moments and bad moments. Neither him nor Neil were a patch on the final 3 from last year nor most of the players from 2013 except for Jay Farber.

Real strong "I has a bucket" vibe to this pic.

This needs more love.

Painfully awkward. My girlfriend was watching it, she knows nothing about poker, and said "yeah he's a douchebag, someone should slap him."

If there is something wrong with him, that's fine. But don't act like you've been there before. This isn't football or basketball where you only have to beat 25 teams. This is the ****ing main event. You beat 6,500 other players and won 7 million. You've never done this and you never will again. Show some happiness and emotion.

I must also add, it's easy to look like the best player at the table when the deck smacks you in the face every hand. But congrats, wire to wire, did deserve it.

Blumen's interview was great. He talked about online poker, he was happy and emotional, and showed why he would've been a million times better for poker than Joe.

Joe played great and as far as the poker goes he was absolute boss. But when in a position hundreds of thousands of people dream about and having just won life changing money, the guy can't even crack a smile. That's just not good for any industry. What made poker so popular was all the characters, the Farha's, Hellmuth's, Matusow's. Negreanu's, Brunsons's, etc. Unfortunately the last bunch of champions are something that just doesn't make the game look cool or exciting to anyone.

Carnivore gets it I completely agree with his post. Joe is getting hate because he isn't going to create a poker boom and makes poker look dull. No emotions from Joe and him being socially awkward is bad for poker and isn't going to get no blood into the game. Joe played great but the criticism is justified based on how he carried him self what a disappointing final table.

Merson had a pretty good story. Going from being a desperate heroin addict to cleaning himself up, turning his life around and then winning the main event all in the scope of less than 1 year.

Sure he was 'just another young pro,' when it came to poker, but that background story is a great feel good story for middle America fanboy types that are the demographic we are all talking about trying to pitch the game to.

Only because Vanessa Rousso didn't play this year. It's common knowledge that whoever won this year would have an asterisk next to their name given that she was on big brother during the main event.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Also Duhamel has been a good ambassador.

Joe owes no one any obligation to act any particular way immediately after winning the ME. Let him enjoy his moment as he sees fit. It is not reasonable to hate on someone for simply being himself during the biggest moment of his life.

While I agree that this FT wasn't ideal for promoting poker, hate for that fact shouldn't be projected onto the players. It'd be better to use that energy towards something constructive like trying to figure out what changes need to happen to facilitate a better viewing experience, i.e. shot clock ideas aimed towards actually making the shot clock in live televised poker happen or suggestions as to how the tournament could provide a more interactive and engaging experience for the average viewer.

Not a big fan of Joe but looking at his results prior to the ME, we all have to tip our hats to him. He's no fluke.

If anything, we should be happy he won because it cements the fact that poker is a skill game and nothing more. I would have been more happy if Max won it, but there you go.

So hate him, make fun of him - the win was warranted and we have to respect that.

Quite easily the most uninteresting FT of the main since I started watching, bar Cannuli and Neil Fedora I just couldn't engage with any of the other guys, as has been said many times itt the eventual champ was beyond tilting, there was a scarcity of any real exciting hands and the never ending tanking on the first night made it a struggle to just stay awake.


This thing is desperately crying out for something magical to happen to it otherwise I feel people are just going to disengage, it's such a shame as watching this live used to be one of the highlights of the year for me, now I find myself contemplating watching it on video so I can FF through all the boring dross.

Sad times.

To be fair though who is actually sitting through 6 hours of televised live poker other than people like those on these boards who are fascinated by it.

The regular prerecorded 1 hour episodes are always going to be far more entertaining for the average uninformed viewer.

It's only the tanking that is painful and I think if they set a rule where they reveal the players cards after say 10 seconds preflop and say 1 minute post it would be good for the game.

Fair points.

I guess after anticipating this thing for so many months that when you get a dull FT it feels like such a let down.

So Steinberg wears suits because it makes him feel comfortable and helps him play his A-game.

Yet McKeehen wears casual sportswear because he's a disrespectful autistic tramp?