Comments on: Layne Flack’s Statement: Not Guilty!

By: DanM

DanM — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:16:23 +0000

***F-Train is a great reporter IMO***

I agree. All the guys covering this event were good, but halfway into day 1, it was clear that F-Train was tops.

By: menacing_1

menacing_1 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:05:33 +0000

Was using every available resource to reach him. F-Train is a great reporter IMO and he was not at fault here…was just given some wrong information which he corrected when the error was made known to him.

By: BJ Nemeth

BJ Nemeth — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:47:49 +0000

Layne Flack and Russ Hamilton have been friends since long before the scandal. Hamilton has (had?) a lot of friends in poker, because until the last six years or so, it was a very small community.

By: Zero

Zero — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:44:03 +0000

Has Flack ever explained his association with the online poker cheater Hamilton?

By: DanM

DanM — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:26:50 +0000

@menacing_1

I love that people come to Pokerati to point out errors to PokerNews reporters. (I’m sure Ftrain really appreciates the public heads-up, too.)

By: DanM

DanM — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:23:08 +0000

I agree with Mathers … it makes perfect sense for a television production that struggles with whom to invite to say, you know what, sorry, but we have plenty of other options. Go win a few bracelets (or gold medals) and maybe we’ll reconsider the risk of you being a party-too-hard no-show.

And then one day when there are enough blacklisted players, they can get them all together for a sit-n-go amongst the ostracized: Layne Flack, Amarillo Slim, David Sklansky, Eskimo Clark … who else?

That would be a really good game, actually.

By: BJ Nemeth

BJ Nemeth — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:16:37 +0000

LOL … yes, of course there’s always that age thing for another two years or so.

JJ Prodigy invitation into the Bluff Challenge was likely his last; he certainly won’t be on anybody’s short list, long list, or worst-case-scenario list.

Layne Flack is a different story. The same behavior that makes some people want to punish him is what makes him compelling for other people to watch. And ultimately, TV shows are about the ratings.

Of course, sponsored players also risk losing their sponsors, but Flack is no longer with Full Tilt.

By: menacing_1

menacing_1 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:13:48 +0000

F-Train, you may want to fix your post about the blinds starting at 5k/10k in the finals. They started at $3k/$6k.

By: Kevin Mathers

Kevin Mathers — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:55:52 +0000

Seems the easiest way to punish them is not be invited in made for TV events (such as the PAD and NBC Heads-Up). The only thing preventing JJ from playing in most WPT events and the WSOP is his age, I believe he’s only 19.

By: BJ Nemeth

BJ Nemeth — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:50:30 +0000

Dan — What did I screw up in the methodology? Have I been treating this story like a blog, a forum, a post, or an article? I really don’t know …

Poker Shrink — When you say, “Hang him out to dry,” you bring up an interesting point. Since poker is generally open to anyone with a buy in, how do you punish someone for their actions (Layne Flack, JJ Prodigy) if they don’t rise to the level of breaking specific rules of the game?

Yes, JJ Prodigy has been expelled from certain sites, but there’s nothing keeping him out of WPT or WSOP events, for example.

By: Poker Shrink

Poker Shrink — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:55:06 +0000

Layne was caught golfing with Russ Hamilton and now booked for DUI and missing the National Heads Up Championship. I say, cut him no slack and hang him out to dry. Off with their heads!

In fact, forget the Back-to-Back Flack, which was not true anyway and go with Layne “No Slack” Flack.

By: DanM

DanM — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 06:37:48 +0000

***(Though none seem worthy of a fresh post of their own.)***

BJ, you’re a little out of blogging practice, so we’ll cut you some slack. The methodology to handling these kinds of “stories” isn’t rocket science … you just have to remember:

1) a blog is different than a forum
2) a post is different than an article
3) the process of gathering “facts” in pursuit of truth is often messy business.

***Once again Layne Flack proves heâ€™s The Andy Dick of Poker.***
I think that’s a pretty good characterization, LR.

By: Lone Rhino

Lone Rhino — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 02:25:55 +0000

Once again Layne Flack proves he’s The Andy Dick of Poker.

By: BJ Nemeth

BJ Nemeth — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 23:43:37 +0000

I’ve updated this post for the fourth time to reflect the change in Robl’s blog. Kevin was right; the updates/clarifications are quickly eclipsing the length of the original post. (Though none seem worthy of a fresh post of their own.)

By: DanM

DanM — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 23:31:30 +0000

It looks like Robl has changed his post, no longer including the part about feeling guilty about taking shots (plural) with Flack.

By: California Jen

California Jen — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:16:12 +0000

I would just think that a one-paragraph statement, released on behalf of a player who has a shaky reputation in the biz and is trying to keep from being dubbed a screw-up in this situation, might consider getting the facts straight. Oh well…

By: BJ Nemeth

BJ Nemeth — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:11:09 +0000

I totally missed that!

But to be fair, days of the week don’t hold much distinction for me (or Layne, probably), and it certainly *felt* like a Friday with the evening draw party. Back in 2005, the NBC heads-up draw party was held on Friday night, with the entire tourney scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

By: California Jen

California Jen — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:08:15 +0000

Did anyone notice that Layne’s official statement begins by mentioning that the draw party was on Friday night? Ummm, it was Thursday night.

By: DanM

DanM — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:59:50 +0000

Does anyone else find it terribly ironic that Wicked Chops just happened to take Layne Flack’s picture on the red carpet that night mugshot style?

By: BJ Nemeth

BJ Nemeth — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:47:50 +0000

Excellent point F-Train, and I’m fixing it now. Semantics are *everything* to me!