Poker pros exhibit good sportsmanship

By Mark Lasser

Well, the World Series of Poker is now over and poker has a new champion. I pushed my deadline so I could stay up and track the play on the WSOP site. This year’s winner for the first time is Canadian – 22-year-old Jonathan Duhamel took home the bracelet, bragging rights and almost $9 million bucks. He defeated the extended short stack of 24-year-old John Racener who can console himself with his $5.5 million. The only poker “veteran” at the table, Michael Mizrachi, failed to capture the bracelet after running into pocket Aces.

It does sort of crack me up that a 22-year-old player cites his occupation as Poker Pro. Isn’t there some minimum number of years you need to put in before claiming to be a pro? But I guess, if that his job, it’s better than what most 22-year-olds are doing. And it does make me wonder if at my age of 44 I’m too old to compete in the main event. With last year’s winner also barely above the legal gambling age, it has certainly been a game for the young. The only guy at the final table this year not in his twenties was 37 years old.

All that said, I’ve been impressed by the general level of professionalism of the WSOP “November 9.” For the most part, there have been no temper tantrums, no poorly taken bad beats, and most knockouts have been followed by handshakes all around.

OK, Candio was sometimes a bit theatrical, but being from Italy, I think he can be forgiven. Generally speaking, the members of the November 9 seem like a really nice bunch of guys and no one is playing some eccentric character. Maybe this younger generation does have something to teach the old timers. Their level of sportsmanship has certainly been higher than that exhibited by Scotty Nguyen, Phil Helmuth and other known professional players. I applaud that.

I’m far from perfect and certainly can improve my own sportsmanship. Keeping your cool is hard. I’ve been playing this game for a long time and I still lose it on a fairly regular basis. When my opponent makes his one outer and then gloats, I find it hard to smile and let it go. Sometimes I do and sometimes I’ll tell him what I think. I am getting better. In live play I will take some deep breaths or a walk to cool off before getting back in. At home, I may be less restrained, often yelling at my computer screen while getting a weird look from the dog.

Even though I may not always lead by the best example, I still know what’s right and wrong. Slow playing a winning hand is never cool. Yelling at a dealer or another player is never OK. Profanity is better thought but not spoken. And what’s right? Being a humble winner. Acknowledging luck is a factor when you suck out a ridiculous hand. Staying as cool when you lose as when you win or fold. Tipping your dealers. Offering your hand first to a player you knock out of a tournament. Putting up blinds without having to be reminded every round by the dealer. Playing an honest game. Being friendly to new players and even friendlier to the fish.

Here’s to hoping we can all be better-behaved players in 2011. I also am rooting for some Colorado representation at the final table and it would be great to see one of our Denver folk like Kevin Boudreau or Chance Kornuth get there. I wouldn’t even mind if it was yours truly! Enjoy your Thanksgiving and save a few bucks on Black Friday for poker on Saturday and Sunday!

Mark B. Lasser is Denver writer and international poker player. He regularly plays in Colorado, Arizona, California, Missouri and Nevada. You can hear him talk about gambling and casinos every Friday at 5 PM on KEZW AM 1430. Readers can send questions and comments to him at ColoradoPokerMark@comcast.net.