News You Can Use

Thanks again to Spaceman for coming around and commenting on that last post. He makes a great point about the oft-unacknowledged hard work of those whose job it is to report news from the professional poker circuit. He also offers some insight into what actually might have occurred at the Borgata that inspired CardPlayer to deliver its less-than-professional accusation about a Bluff Magazine reporter a couple of weeks ago. Check it out.

For those of you who don’t know, “Spaceman” is Jason Kirk, and happens to be a reporter for Bluff Magazine. He was himself involved a different, mini-controversy last month that also highlighted questions about the poker media and journalistic integrity. His reports from the World Poker Open main event at the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica included some humorous references to Daniel Negreanu’s apparent distaste for the local cuisine (among other things South). Bluff Magazine decided some of Kirk’s comments about Negreanu’s were inappropriate and suspended him for the next two circuit events (as Dr. Pauly reported). They also edited some of his updates, removing some of the more pointed references to Negreanu being a “hater” and the like.

If you’re interested, there’s a summary of the matter over at Kick Ass Poker in the second part of their 2/2/07 post. It’s also possible to compare some of Spaceman’s original reports (quoted in various places, including in this comment to Dr. Pauly's post) to Bluff’s edited versions of the updates (located here). I personally think Kick Ass Poker’s conclusion (from yesterday’s post) -- that “both sides [Negreanu and Kirk] were trying to be funny” and things got a little out of hand -- sounds about right.

Speaking of poker journalism, let me recommend a couple of other reads from the last twenty-four hours. First, go check out Amy Calistri and Tim Lavalli’s long awaited follow-up article regarding the infamous extra two million in chips that appeared near the end of the 2006 WSOP Main Event. In “Two Million Chips: Six Months After,” the pair explain why Harrah’s has been hush-hush for the last six months, the Nevada Gaming Commission’s role in the (still ongoing) investigation, and -- perhaps most intriguingly -- who likely got the extra chips.

If you logged on yesterday at all, you no doubt saw how rumors of Doyle Brunson’s supposed arrest (for what?) had clogged up all them tubes of the internets. One of the funnier moments was Gambling911 posting a midday update that included a Doyle’s Room representative saying (and I quote) “As far as we know, Doyle is at home sleeping in his bed. Don’t quote me on any of that . . .” (emphasis added). Thankfully, the guys at Up for Poker came along before the day was over with a nice dose of intellectual Drano to restore the natural flow. Their smart commentary titled “Deconstructing Doyle” does a terrific job speculating what a story like Doyle’s arrest might say about the current status of poker.

As the Doyle story aptly demonstrates, it is certainly a weird time to be a player in the world of poker journalism. I’m just a railbird, of course. And I have to imagine all of this incessant, ill-informed chattering from the rail must be pretty damn distracting for those inside the ring.