In all seriousness though, if he’s witness protection, he should stick to cash games. Gigantic media-fueled tournaments are not the best place to hide once you make the final table, and if you’re not there to do that, what’s the point?

but regardless, it’s hard to consider this being a matter of “conscientious objector” when there was nothing conscientious about it.

wearing an pro-Iranian opposition armband in a world cup qualifier is a statement … not running out on your bracelet interview.

Nolan was talking about it this morning, and was still pissed. In his words, “You stand for the national anthem because of all the people who can’t.”

I don’t care whether the kid is shy or not. He knew what he was getting into when he registered for the tournament and he should at least treat the staff and events with some level of respect, whether or not he wants to become part of the media machine.

I got no problem with this guy declining interviews and the ceremony. He should be left alone.

Let’s get a list and a pool up for why he is on the hide. I’d wager it is mundane and embarrassing.

Child support.
Registered sex offender.
Any kind of felon that did not register with the Vegas laws.
Some deadbeat that owes all the bookies.
Old warrants.
Probation, and not allowed to leave some state.
Worked for George Bush.
A friend of Joan Rivers.

ed from pokerlistings spent a little more up-close time with him and his friends, and he reminded me that it’s always possible the guy is just shy. but i might be willing to wager money that that’s not the case.

It’s his business to refuse interviews, but from what I heard, he did so in a rude and pompous way. It’s less of a big deal since it was the only final table running, but imagine if there were two and the ceremony had to run with only one participant. I’m not sure how Harrah’s would have handled that.

And I agree with Lee that release forms are signed when you enter a WSOP tournament that they may use official photos, videos, etc. for their own purposes. He agreed to be photographed when he entered the tournament, so I doubt he had any notion of complete anonymity.

I’d like to think that Nolan has seen a lot in his WSOP days and has pretty thick skin, but for him to be furious and truly insulted by the way Austin treated him says a lot to me.

Regards, Lee
“And if they didn’t this year, you can bet it’ll be in there next year. They’ll call it the ‘Austin clause’.”

Ahh, so Joan Rivers was right all along …

The greatest gambler in Texas, who I call Sand, stayed away from the World Seris, even though he had been great friends with Benny Binion and Johnny Moss for decades.

Benny said the IRS and the FBI are “on the rail.”

Look me up on google images. My face does not show. When it got down to three handed, they let Amarillo Slim win a bracelet in order to avoid publicity. Slim was considered very unusual in the gambling community since he courted the press.