Doyle Brunson Is Still Alive
But Is the Dot-Com Ban?
Not in the tournament, I don’t think … but I did just see him hobble by (distinguishedly) in apparent defeat.
Speaking of Doyle, I’ve also noticed Arizona player Mike Wattel decked out in Doyle’s Room gear — a DR.net wide-brimmed golf hat and heavily washed DR.com golf shirt. Congrats to Wattel for whatever deal he’s worked out. Am guessing it’s no coincidence that he has been logo’ed up by the same room as his ex-girlfriend Cyndy Violette.
(Syntax dilemma of the day: Does Cyndy Violette support Doyle’s Room, or does Doyle’s Room support Cyndy?)
Am also noticing a lot more dot-commage all over the place this year. From my perch in the pressbox, right in front of me I see some Euro journo wearing a big PokerStars.com splay on the back of his T-shirt … and several other players in the second-chance tourney right in front of me wearing all sorts of FullTiltPoker.com swag.
Not sure yet what this means … either it’s irrelevant because there’re no TV cams around, or in general The Empire* is lightening up over the terrorist threat dot-coms present?
Kevin Mathers says:
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:06pm
I thought the case the previous years was that players would have .com apparel, but then when the main event starts, Harrah’s would crack down hard (especially the year when they had those .NET stickers they plastered on anything .com).
DanM says:
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:11pm
They definitely crack down harder on everything during the main event. but in general, dot-coms were a no-no, or at least always were.
Everything seems to be so much more laid back this year.
BJ Nemeth says:
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:52pm
My understanding is that the “.com” rule only kicks in during televised events. The Main Event is televised from the start of Day 1, so it applies throughout.
Days 1 and 2 of prelim events aren’t televised, so players are free to wear more or less what they wish, including .com logos.
My level of certainty on this is about 94.6%.
As for the syntax dilemma, I contend that if the relationship is financial (the site pays the player through a long-term deal), then it’s more correct to say that the website supports the player.
For the record, a temporary final table deal to simply wear someone’s logo on TV doesn’t count as “support.” You don’t support hookers; you pay them for services rendered and leave immediately after.
DanM says:
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:54pm
BJ, I question your use of the second-person singular here, unless of course you are talking about the universal You.
(And so did I miss Wattel being at a final table? He was wearing Doyle’s Room gear two days ago as well.)
BJ Nemeth says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:55am
LOL … I just caught that. When I said, “You,” I really meant, “You and I” in the first use and “we” in the second.