Are there any poker players that people have judged to be "anti-heroes" for one reason or another (whether justified or not) that you secretly support and root for? Possible names:

Mike Postle

Annie Duke

Doug Polk

Howard Lederer

Russ Hamilton

Justin Bonomo

Jake Schindler

Ali Imsirovic

Bryn Kenney

Chris Ferguson

Doug Lee

Sam Farha

Amarillo Slim

Any others?

Why do you secretly root for them? Why do you gain satisfaction if they show success or accumulate wins in poker, business, and life that totally frustrate and infuriate their haters and critics?

William Kassouf.

Some of the names on your list are flat out cheats so I'm not sure why anyone would root for them. Secretly or not secretly.

Bleznick

As I was walking from tuscany suites to ballys him and his girlfriend (wife?) Were walking in the opposite direction and I could hear him clear as day being loud and obnoxiously talking over her just like he would to anybody at a poker table. Definitely not a shtick or anything. Ialso secretly root for him... and I'm not sure why

Yeah, this. Especially Postle. Most of the people on your list were at least notable in poker before their reputations went downhill for one reason or another. Postle is only known for being a cheat.

Amarillo Slim is an odd inclusion. That's like asking a baseball player if he/she secretly roots for Ty Cobb.

On theme, however, I've said for a while that I DO root for Chino Rheem as long as it happens in Vegas or any place where many of his creditors can be. It's the only way those folks have a chance of getting paid. Not sure if that's rooting for him per se, as it's more technically rooting for the people he owes.

I root for Bryn Kenney, Phil Hellmuth, and Mike Matusow.

Bryn didn't do anything that bad. Phil Hellmuth is one of the GOAT.

Not sure if hes a villain anymore but Lex Veldhuis was one of my favs.

Thanks for reminding me. His name escaped me. I'd like to add to my OP list:

William Kassouf

Maurice Hawkins

Tony G

Tony Bigcharles

Backpack Steve

Chino Rheem

well she chose to be with this dbag- people who play a tournament with him didn't.


To the op-

Tony G.

Justin Bonomo is barely a villian but I like that he enjoys pissing people off

Iceman

I don’t remember when he was ever a villain, maybe he was a bit cocky at that WSOP 15 years ago, but he’s been pretty universally loved for like a decade.

To answer the OP, I’ll say Bleznick too, if he still qualifies.

For me it's hard to root for a lot of villians because they are scammers too. Tony G back in the day was a fun villian to root for because he trashed talk and was not scamming people.

OK, I will bite. I have liked Chino in the WSOP coverage. I have played with Maurice Hawkins, but a circuit boss I have to root for. I am not sure guys that don't pay their debts are actually cheaters in that sense of the word. Shitty, for sure.

I don't know how you can root for those 2 at all. Chino and Maurice are the poster boys for borrowing or scamming money and not paying it back.

girah

Bryn Kenney. Also as far as im aware no accusations against him held true. I dont want to live in a world where some random accusations can be thrown out and everyone jumps on the hype wagon and you are ****ed.

Bryn Kenney is an amazing poker player, not only since yesterday, goes all the way back, seen tons of great plays from him no one else would make. Does not even study GTO and still owns for decades.

You need way more evidence for "cheating" to shatter a legacy like that.

Is this a joke?

Oh... I see...

https://www.casino.org/news/brit-pok...-for-stealing/

I have a premonition that 2022 could be The Year of the Poker Villain. I'm not just talking about the WSOP. I'm talking, like, overall.

Why am I not surprised, he is a manipulator, a liar, a cheater and a thief.
The poor girl should dump him asap.

I still admire the way he can get under people's skills at the table tho.

I don’t have any bad thoughts for Chino, I always enjoy seeing him play.

I hate Postle and Kassouf with a passion.

Please expand on this prophecy. What als do you envisage, either by visions or intuition?

Not only can accusations get people to jump on the bandwagon, but they can come from established cheaters.

Foxen was literally caught colluding on camera with no shadow of a doubt he cheated.

Then he accused Ali of cheating online by playing like too much of a computer , but also cheating live by not playing like a computer (sound logic). Oh and btw the same guy who colluded live and rushes to his solver software to accuse others of cheating would never use that solver software online, lol.

If you lay out all the facts on the table, there’s way more evidence that Foxen is a scum bag cheater than Ali is (though honestly I think most likely case is they all cheat). But somehow Foxen escapes all the heat while Bryn and Ali get branded.

I really see no other explanation than it’s a popularity contest. And this idea we’re going to make this “council” that keeps poker clean and honest will be a joke as long as a players popularity is an input variable to the decision.

So yes I’m rooting for Ali / Bryn for sure as long as it triggers all the hypocrites that their not getting their hypocritical ways.

I had a dream that I was staying at an Airbnb mansion. Very dark. I'm in a very dark bedroom with bunk beds of people everywhere. There is a stranger walking in between the beds, and this mysterious figure is whispering in the ears of sleeping people. Finally, this mysterious figure comes over to me, leans over, whispers in my ears, and says, "Ali Imsirovic....Bryn Kenney...Jake Schindler" in a very cold, shaky and ghostly voice. I open my eyes to find out who the mysterious figure is. It is Jeff Lisandro, the guy that won 3 bracelets way back in the 2000s and who threatened to beat up another player on national TV.

True story. I actually had this dream before Day 1 of the Main Event.