When a player wins the World Series of Poker Championship Event and becomes the de facto World Champion of the game of poker, he (or perhaps one day she) also becomes an ambassador of sorts for the sport. Not only for the year following but pretty much for the rest of their involvement in the world of poker, former World Champions are sought out for their opinion on pertinent issues that come up within the game. Sometimes they offer up their own opinions, as it appears our reigning World Champion has done in this case.
The defending Championship Event titleholder, Joe McKeehen, took to the stream of Twitter last week to rant about the start times for tournaments at this year’s WSOP. Stating that “poker players have been getting shit on because of the media ever since I started playing poker,” McKeehen blamed the in-house media team from the WSOP for the early (for poker players) start time, rather than more logical thoughts like getting a day’s play in before 3AM or something along those lines.
“The fact that the media has ANY say or impact on the players and how the tournament is ran is a fucking joke,” McKeehen wrote to his followers over Twitter. Comparing poker players to slaves and commenting that the 11AM start time might force players to miss tournaments, McKeehen’s rant finished off by saying, “They (the media) have nothing to do with how the tournament is played, they just report it, and 90% of them clearly don’t even try. The players have been getting shit on because of media ever since I started playing live poker so I guess it’s not a surprise.”
Never one to shy away from a debate, Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu (who has been intimately involved in many areas of WSOP scheduling in the past) stepped up to the plate. “I can tell you with absolute certainty the media had nothing to do with (the time change),” Negreanu chirped on Twitter, which drew a remark from McKeehen that he was being “obscene.” “What do you claim to know that I don’t?” Negreanu asked. “I was involved internally and am telling you media had nothing at all to do with it.”
This isn’t the first time that McKeehen has been involved in some spirited interaction across the internet. Just a couple of weeks ago, McKeehen engaged in a Twitter war with Mike Dentale, first accusing the fellow professional of being a cheat (“PSA to anyone playing with (Dentale): protect your cards at all times as he is a known and proven cheater on the tables”) but backed off the comments after other players such as Paul Volpe challenged McKeehen to prove his accusations. Add in his rather surly demeanor en route to his victory last November and McKeehen isn’t exactly painting the picture of a “good” ambassador for the game.
The problem is McKeehen has been an active “playing” World Champion, going anywhere for the game. After winning poker’s World Championship, McKeehen has pulled in more than $1.8 million, with two wins and seven final tables among his 12 cashes since his victory. That may pale in comparison to the $7.6 million-plus McKeehen won in November, but it does show that he has some talent at the game.
The resulting uproar has brought some derisive attention to McKeehen. A photo-shopped meme has appeared:
(And kudos and thanks to Drew Amato (@drew_amato) for the excellent photoshop work!)
As have parody Twitter accounts:
I’m not the best poker player in the world. #BadAprilFoolsJokes
— Angry Joe McKeehen (@Angry__Joe) April 1, 2016
Twitter is a great way to reach people, but it isn’t a great way to put out a fully cohesive thought. There is only so much you can say in 140 characters, something that McKeehen might take into consideration before his next Tweet.
McKeehen should fight a bigger battle – more $$$. Every major sport goes through this. Media influences scheduling and other details to accommodate TV, audiences grow, the value of sponsorships and broadcast rights grows, and that $$$ makes its way to the athletes. McKeehen, Negreanu and other top pros should start demanding an overlay from the TV/sponsor dollars. It’s silly that 100% of the prize pool for major tournaments still comes from player entry fees.