Phil Ivey’s emlination from the 2009 WSOP final table caused a minor explosion. Ivey gave a couple of interviews then he left the building. That’s when the WTF’s started. While interviews are part of tournament coverage, it isn’t exactly comfortable talking to players just after they leave the table.
Ivey walked out after a huge poker elimination. So what. Would it have made a difference had Ivey stuck around to decline 50 people? Did Ivey owe his mourning period to media because they created his job? Or did media owe Ivey respect for the jobs he helped create? Or did he owe it because that’s what people wanted?
Maybe Ivey was in a hurry to beat traffic, maybe he wanted Daniel Negreanu to have an exclusive blog post or maybe, and this is kind of out there, maybe he was upset and wanted a break. I know, crazy isn’t it? Here’s a few ways Ivey could have made things better:
1. A painful career moment, equivalent to a national televised job termination, should’ve been given to anyone who wanted a piece of him. It’s more important to get a downtrodden AK interview than allow a human a little wound licking. I guess Ivey was unaware of tournament elimination rules. Wait, do they have tournament elimination interview rules for players? Who cares, everyone should follow all non-law-breaking rules at all times whether they’re experiencing pain, humiliation, sadness or whatever. Human feelings should come second to media. In fact, Larry David might even be able to prove Moses said this to his people.
2. Living in Vegas, Ivey might show up for some interviews but didn’t he know Confucius say “He who hit enter first have big traffic.” And when it comes to traffic…well, first things first. Had Ivey given interviews, others could have benefitted from his night of gloom which might have turned around the economy. The fact that reporters were getting paid regardless of Ivey’s behavior shouldn’t matter. It’s more important to help the this-is-what-I-want-to-say-about-it-all rat race.
3. Ivey could have had an onsite emotional meltdown causing everyone to focus on him rather than his opponents. Who cares about the other players pivotal hands, eliminations, chip counts? When Ivey has been eliminated, the world should stop. God forbid anyone consider Ivey might have been giving those guys their moments.
4. WSOP final table adrenaline is exhausting. Exhaustion causes people to think unclearly. Since Ivey had the most final table experience, he should have written a memo on his hand that said… If you bust, make sure you bond with your teammates in the locker room before interviews. Wait, no locker room to cool off?
5. Ivey should have said “I know everyone wants to talk to me because I’m the biggest star. But I’m tired, need some space plus I’ve been talking to media for three months. I would prefer to be with people who don’t want anything from me.” Or a bs self-seeking humble statement like “I’ll interview tomorrow, tonight let the other guys shine.” You know, one of those attention-seeking statements that appears humble but actually gets a pat on the back.
Unfortunately, few realize it takes a very strong person to walk away quietly and risk such negative attention.
First Could Have Been Better Poker post.
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