Obviously.

If you’re implying that I suggested that, I didn’t. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone suggesting that, at least ITT (although I’ve heard of others, even politicians suggesting that we jail or deport them).

No matter how repugnant I find Richard Spencer to be, I’d never say that he has a severe psychological disorder, or that he should be put on medication. Or even Alex Jones, for that matter, who acts crazy, but it’s clearly a scam/grift.

It’s called freedom of speech, and it’s fundamental to anyone who believes in liberty.

I guess it’s similar to that Supreme Court judge who said something like I can’t exactly define porn, but I know it when I see it.

If you spend time in LA or anywhere else with a large homeless population, you can recognize craziness (for lack of a better word). Bobby Fischer was acting crazy. He had a mental issue.


Totally disagree.

This is an odd thing to say after the above. Seems like a total contradiction.

The threshold for being involuntarily held is extremely high in the US, and I imagine it’s probably a bit lower in the UK, but still high. Freaking out on a plane is a big no-no, but I imagine if Tom was immediately asking JD Vance and Donald Trump to intervene via Twitter, it’s good that he’s under supervision and being medicated.

Which ones? Not saying you’re wrong, but I just know of the ones that skip the foreplay and kill dissidents.

Obviously not.

He’s not being held for what he posted on Twitter, or for saying something the government didn’t like. That’s absurd. Please show me what Tweets he did that you think caused him to be institutionalized.

And the other greatest American of all time, Paul Morphy, was a recluse who had completely stopped playing by his mid-20s and was known for collecting/hoarding women's shoes, apparently, he had hundreds of pairs of women's shoes and would dance around them. He then died of syphilis at 34 or something like that. All details approximate, working off of old memory here.

Single-minded pursuits of excellence in an individual game like chess is not exactly conducive to strong mental health. Live poker like what Dwan plays is way, way more of a social game, so the aforementioned type of mental illness isn't too much of a concern here, but psychosis after burning oneself out on sick hours spent gambling while on uppers is.

Pretty sure Alekhine had Aspergers or was at least on the spectrum in some way (obv unknown stuff in his day)

I'm sure you meant Hikaru, who obviously has no personality flaws whatsoever.

that guy is such a clown, which is why I still brag about stacking him in a 1/2nl side game people ran at this one chess tournament even though it was like 15 years ago... which maybe says more about me than him, but whatever

If ESPN had been around in 1975 the bottom scroll would’ve read “CHESS—Fischer (USA) OUT (Schizophrenialike symptoms)”

I never even heard of this guy but is it possible it was the syphyllis that was rotting his brain?

I remember Morphy as one of the masters flashing by in my youth when I played some chess. Googled, looks he just chose to more or less quit after winning everything at age 22. Failed as a lawyer (had money though) and then went insane quite some later.

He didn't see chess as something to concentrate on, no matter how good. Those were the times.

He's in the UK, not Kyrgyzstan.

"Save me JD Vance!" is not a political statement.

You really wouldn’t mind being held against your will in a mental institution in a foreign country?

Yeah sure it might not be a Turkish prison but something to avoid as obviously better to be home close to whatever support system he may have. Be quiet and take meds would never be my default play.

Imagine how crazy it must be to not only play in all the biggest games in the world but be a genuine threat and able to make millions and millions of dollars playing since you were a teenager. That has to warp your brain and that's before you consider all the other forms of craziness that surely happens in those circles.

I mean yeah, certainly the "ideal" scenario for Tom would be to be back home, getting support from friends and family, and receiving care there. But he was pretty clearly unwell enough that he would've been sectioned eventually no matter where he was. If he had such a severe episode of psychosis in public like that, then I would guess he's probably needed mental health treatment for a while now

Unfortunately, "be quiet and take meds" is really the only play when that kind of thing happens, though it's unlikely anyone under the veil of serious mental illness would see it that way

COINTELPRO drugged Fred Hampton in 1969, but that was so they could kill him.

But yeah, we are talking about Tom ****ing Dwan. Lol

The thing is, you likely don't get an involuntarily hold unless you're perceived as in a state where you need it. So, although "be quiet and take drugs" seems like a less than stellar option if you're trying to prove your sanity, it is actually what you'd do if you were in that situation and feeling healthy. It would be "ok this is dumb and idk how I got here when I'm clearly okay, but now that I see there is no successful arguing, I understand that I can just kill time for a few weeks and then exit." This is not a kidnapping where he needs to escape and can't trust the people, this is people calmly explaining the situation to him (including the duration of his stay).

If you think they're prescribing all patients a ton of substances, you're wrong. They're not just issuing lithium to everyone who takes a break at an in-patient facility. If you're on a hold and you are behaving calmly and rationally, you might just be asked to take a benzodiazepine which won't really have much of an effect besides feeling a tiny bit subdued. Sometimes non-violent criminal offenses are given temporary holds in the UK rather than jail sentences, and I think a lot of people are assuming he's being held at a facility with patients with more serious issues. He's allowed visitors, his sentence is short, and while I'm sure he'd rather be elsewhere, he does have the luxury of having a job where he can take a few weeks off. If Tom is okay, then he's okay. If he's having a struggle, then he's in the right place because there really is no better help sometimes than getting to just take a break from it all.

The tweet reads like something Tiger King would write. I don't think it's so black and white as "ur mentally ill or ur okay". We all have difficult moments and tough times, and people are able to recover from them with help. He's getting help, and that's good. Even if he's completely fine and was just threw a tantrum on the plane until they committed him, this is still a good break because it'll be a lesson not to do that again.

As for the friend, we all have regrettable friends. If a conspiracy theorist came to bother me while I was stuck in a hospital, I'd probably text JD Vance for help too.

Anyway, I think we'll just have to wait and see. I wish Tom luck.

Thinking they're trying to get you definitely is a sign of schizophrenia. He was also saying that the US government and the soviets were after him. That's a sign of schizophrenia i think.
He also died from a curable illness because he wouldn't take medication for it. He didn't trust the doctors...
I know of somebody that was schizophrenic and died recently for the exact same reason. Untreated schizophrenia could be dangerous for the person and those around them.

Tom's said in his tweet that he had broken ribs, punctured lung, broken hand and other minor injuries. He seemed physically fine on the picture that was posted and pokernews reporter said he is physically ok.
So we finally agree on something

That type of delusion and paranoia can be a product of psychosis also, which is a more short-term problem that can be brought on by traumatic experiences, lack of sleep, poor health, or substance use. We're really quick to diagnose Tom with something major, but this moment seems like an outlier in his history.

I hope so, but he’s been acting strange for awhile (albeit, not always), and he’s been acting very different than he did back when he was on HSP 10 years ago (or more?).

He probably needs to be on medication permanently. Unless he’s on some serious drug like meth and not sleeping for a week, in which case he can get healthy.

But I don’t think that’s the case. It seems more serious, but I’m not a doctor. We’ll see. Hopefully he has a support system and gets healthy. He’s a legend. And he’s been weird for awhile. And not Charlie Carrel weird, but kinda psychotic.

I’m sure whatever happened on the plane was severe, and he was probably restrained and immediately taken into custody when they landed.

Man, I saw that so many times... So somebody with mental health problem takes some random pills, kratom, sits in meditation or whatever... And it doesn't cure his psychosis surprisingly, so only logical output is that some random pills, kratom, sitting in meditation or whatever are real reason for his psychosis... Right?

Maybe Dwan got ahold of something and over did it? Taking too much of anything is bad. Too much salt water will kill a person. Too much LSD, cocaine, alcohol, fentanyl, etc. can cause the brain to misfire permanently.

Then again, he could be right, the government could be after him. Ever hear of the MKUltra program when spooks would secretly spike someone's drink with LSD then claim they 'went crazy'? They ruined people's lives. The lead doctor for that program got access to Jack Ruby then declared him insane.

Why would Tom be on a government list for fake insanity?

We often matter less than we think. The government doesn't have the resources for that kind of play. And who would the guy in charge in the uk/us be? He could of course be someone insane, but that would show.

When I was in hospital I got a poker chip set delivered and we started playing 4-5 handed NLH sit and goes to pass the time. did 800 pushups in one day also. I also played spin and goes as well online.
I've been there 6 times some of those times for 2 months. It ain't that bad in there. I've been told its worse than prison but I dunno. You gotta be on meds that ain't reacting badly for you. if you are on meds that don't work or cause problems it causes issues.
Tom should start some games if he got a phone.

Pretty sure what he does is he goes on poker and speed benders then boards an airplane and sleeps it off. He probably tried to board an airplane in london and was tweaking the **** out.

perfect time to start working on a new poker course!

Maybe 'RaiseYourMeds.'

or 'Downswing'

New season of High Stakes Poker but it's just Dwan getting kidnapped by Triads.

sad people ^^^ probably still playing 25/50c