Quote:
Originally Posted by D_Matthews
<snip>
Going back to Jeopardy hand...
When the floor came up for the Maurice hand, Maurice game him a big smile and wink and the floor gave him an equally reciprocal laugh and smile. I then said to the floor person "Oh you two are buddies I see? You and him are friends?" Then the floor straightened his countenance and said "No. How may I help you?"
So part of the frustration for me in all this too is that yes I think the clique applies past the table to the floor people and if you're a regular, you're going to get the benefit of the doubt versus a newbie/unknown.
This is the key reason why amateurs and recreational players should boycott Caesar's and, especially, the WSOP. Ever since Caesar's acquired the WSOP, management has shown a consistent pattern, a history, of siding with out-of-line pros over their amateur opponents. The "incidents" where Mr. Effel, Mr. Palansky, Nolan Dalla et al. should have acted in a strong and unambiguous manner are countless, but I'll name just a few ...
When Mike Matusow leans across the table and shouts at Greg Raymer concerning the size of his testicles, that was beyond the pale. For that outburst, Matusow should have been banned for life and never been allowed to participate again in the WSOP. How is it that a "pro" (like Matusow) gets away with that kind of behavior while a relative amateur like Drew McIlvain gets banned? Answer: Never insult a Caesar's employee - especially if you're an amateur. Next up is the infamous Scotty Nguyen "drunken tirade" incident. Were any penalties assessed for that sickening display? To the contrary, Nolan Dalla went on the late Lou Krieger's "Keep Flopping Aces" program and proceeded to defend their inactions [against Scotty] insisting that "anything goes" at the poker table ... "just as long as you don't break the rules or slow down the game." With those comments, Nolan had just given the green light - if there was ever any doubt - to pros that they can attempt every angle shoot and indulge in every despicable behavior they desire with no fear of suffering a penalty. In other words, it's open season on the amateurs and the recreational players. Finally, we have one of the worst abuses of all - last year's incident involving David "Doc" Sands. When this is reported to Jack Effel by the victimized player, Mr. Effel allegedly responds to the player dismissing him by stating something to the effect of: "I would [or we all would] have done the same thing!" Think about that! The WSOP's tournament director tells a player, in effect, "In this joint we look the other way when a well known pro angle shoots or outright breaks the rules. We're sure as hell not going to penalize a pro!" (Assessing a pro a one-round sit out is not a penalty - it's a slap on the wrist. A penalty is a meaningful punishment, such as ejecting a pro from the WSOP.) If Caesar's management grew a pair and started assessing penalties of that order, the "message" would get through to angle shooting, rule breaking, obnoxious pros right away. Caesar's has made it clear, by their blatant favoritism of pros over amateurs and recreational players, that they just don't care. Their sympathies clearly lie with the pros.
This year we have this incident involving Maurice Hawkins, by all accounts another obnoxious potty mouth, and Maria Ho. Caesar's just will not crack down on this stuff. The only way to deal with this kind of management mindset is for amateurs and recreational players to simply stay home. Look at the bright side. You could very well save yourself from being mugged in the parking lot - and/or having your vehicle broken in to.