Jonathan Aguiar Upset Over New World Series of Poker Verbal Declaration PolicyDaniel Negreanu Believes Rule Isn't Necessary For Live Streaming Tables |
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A Twitter tirade broke out on Saturday from Jonathan Aguiar (@JonAguiar) concerning a new World Series of Poker rule that requires players at all live-streamed featured and final tables to verbally declare all of their actions.
Aguiar, who finished third in Friday’s $1,500 pot-limit hold’em finale, was livid after being told that he and his table mates, which included Daniel Negreanu, Tommy Vedes, Bryan Pellegrino and eventual winner Nick Jivkov, were being forced to verbalize all of their bets, checks and folds, for the benefit of those watching the live stream.
The WSOP maintains that the rule was put into place for the good of the game, helping poker grow into more and more households by making it easier to understand and watch.
Aguiar claims that during three-handed play, he and the other players questioned the rule, only to be threatened by a floorman who said he would postpone the event for the evening if the players didn’t comply.
Aguiar spoke to Card Player during the first break of the $1,500 no-limit hold’em event and further clarified his stance on what he believes to be a rule that is not only pointless, but also a detriment to the game and its amateur players.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Aguiar said. “They’ve implemented a rule without consulting the players, based on the notion that it will somehow make the live coverage more lively and engaging. It isn’t even a matter of announcing the action, because the dealers, the tournament directors and the commentators are all doing that on their own.”
The seven-year pro believes that the WSOP made a quick decision without really thinking about the drawbacks and potential problems that the rule could create.
“It’s not the first time that the WSOP rolled out a new rule or policy without testing it first. Last year, they decided to show our hole cards on the live broadcast, which of course was met with a huge uproar.”
Steve O’Dwyer, who was actually in the commentary booth during the final table broadcast, echoed those sentiments.
“This rule puts amateurs in an incredibly difficult situation,” O’Dwyer said. “They may not be comfortable verbalizing their bets and may give off tells as a result. Then you have to think about those who are deaf, have speech impediments or even suffer from social anxiety disorder. This has the potential to make a lot of people uncomfortable.”
Aguiar, known for always speaking his mind when it comes to issues within the poker community, said he has volunteered his services to the WSOP in the past in an effort to create a series that all players can appreciate.
“I don’t know why they didn’t just ask,” Aguiar said. “Last year, Jimmy Fricke, Isaac Haxton, Christian Harder, myself and a few others offered our time to [Tournament Director] Jack Effel, [Executive Director] Ty Stewart and [Communications Director] Seth Palansky and let them know that we’d be willing to bounce some ideas back and forth. But of course, they just roll out the new rules and policies without giving it a second thought. We’re the ones taking all of the risk here, putting up all the buy-ins, but often, they aren’t considering us at all.”
Daniel Negreanu, who is actually a member of the WSOP Players Advisory Council, said he wasn’t consulted about the rule and doesn’t believe it should be enforced.
“Some players are just very quiet and they’ve been like that for years, so it’s a very hard rule to enforce,” Negreanu said. “I just don’t think it adds anything as far as entertainment value. I mean, is it really so important for the players to say the words, bet, check and raise, because that’s all their going to say. It’s really boring.”
Negreanu finished fifth in the event and says that he was unaware of the policy until a floorman informed the table shortly before the live stream began. The usually talkative Negreanu was actually a bit subdued during play, but that may have been because of his shorter stack and his position at the table.
Aguiar, however, insisted via Twitter that the rule wasn’t enforced until after Negreanu had busted, alleging that perhaps some favoritism was being shown by the WSOP.
A quick sampling of the $1,500 no-limit hold’em field showed that the players were split on the issue. Some believed that Aguiar was making a big deal out of a minor inconvenience, while others were firmly on his side, pointing out that it’s not the players’ job to entertain the public.
WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel declined to comment officially, but did stress that he has yet to issue any penalties to players who have broken the rule. He also added that the rule was not created to make any players uncomfortable or put anyone at a strategic disadvantage, but simply to make the live stream more engaging for the at-home viewer.
Effel said he has not yet decided if he will continue to enforce the rule when the ESPN cameras begin their coverage, but encourages all poker players to do their best to promote the game in a positive light.
For complete coverage of the summer poker festival, check out our WSOP landing page.
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