Caesar's Wife

Hello, readers. I am substituting for Jeff Shulman this issue. As I write this, he is still busy playing in the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals championship event. I, on the other hand, have plenty of time on my hands here in Connecticut.

There is a famous old story – indeed, more than 2,000 years old – about Julius Caesar's second wife, Pompeia, who was implicated in a scandal. Although there was considerable evidence that she was innocent, he divorced her immediately, cutting her no slack at all. When the court asked him why he had demanded a divorce when so much uncertainty had surrounded the incident, he replied, "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion."

Poker has become very big – what with million dollar events monthly, million viewer TV events weekly, and a million Americans playing every few days – and the single biggest thing that could bring things to a screeching halt would be a scandal.

Sponsorship is not around the corner, it is here. Tournament fields are huge. Poker is in the mainstream press daily. We not only must be above reproach, but – at least equally important, like Caesar's wife – must constantly appear to comport ourselves with the highest integrity.

I am truly delighted for every poker player who is fortunate enough to participate in poker's largess. But, I'm sorry, guys, many of you are the same ones who are getting staked in tournaments by your competition, and that has to stop. When some "do-gooder" starts writing about that, there is no telling how much irreparable harm that could do to the game.

So, how much is too much? In a perfect world, any amount is probably too much. (We certainly don't see the NFL saying it's OK to bet up to $100 per game.) But, we do have a tradition, and I am concerned that if we try to stop this cold turkey, there will be some quiet disregard for the rule.

I suggest the following rules:

1. No player can own more than 10 percent of another player in the same tournament.

2. Every player who has an interest in another, or visa versa, must register that on a tournament-by-tournament basis.

3. Players caught violating either side of this arrangement will be banned from tournament play for a year for the first violation, and for life for a repeat violation.

These ideas are not uniquely mine. Mike Sexton suggested the 10 percent rule recently in another Card Player column. And since smoking has for all intents and purposes been stamped out, this has been Casey Kastle's pet project.

Note that I have no problem with an outsider staking 10 players, as long as they do not split funds and they play independently. Also, I have no problem with a player selling 10 percent of himself to several players.

Julius Caesar got it, and so should we.