Nov. 22, 2005
Poker's Great White Shark
Ken Adams Warns About The Risk Of Collusion At The Table
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(AP)
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Again, disclosure would appear to be the best preventive medicine. If everyone at the table knows that you and I have a piece of each other, it will be difficult for one of us to dump off a lot of chips to the other without being discovered.
Who has an economic interest in making sure that tournament poker avoids collusion and public scandal?
Surprisingly, none of these groups have called for a uniform rule requiring disclosure when players at the same table have an economic interest in each other's winnings. Nor have any of the host casinos or tournament organizers or directors imposed such a rule in the tournaments they host/organize/direct.
Indeed, one highly regarded tournament director is rumored to have taken pieces of players who are competing in tournaments he directs! Imagine what the public reaction would be if an NFL head referee agreed with a Super Bowl quarterback that the referee would get a percentage of the quarterback's Super Bowl bonus if his team wins the game.
Every group that calls itself a profession and asks the public to respect and support its endeavors adopts standards of ethical behavior and procedures to enforce them. Tournament poker should do the same, before it is too late.
In tournaments where commercial sponsors put up the money and specific players are invited to compete, the sponsors should prohibit partnerships. If a player violated the rule, the player would forfeit any prize money won and would be barred from further competition in tournaments sponsored by that organization. That should be enough to discourage violations.
In tournaments where the prize money comes from player buy-ins, partnerships would not be prohibited but players would be required to disclose such conflicting interests to the other players at their table. Again, the penalty for violations would be forfeiture of money won, and banishment from further competition in tournaments organized or hosted or televised or directed by the organization imposing the rule.
Recently I discussed this topic with a professional player who shares my view. I was disappointed to learn that he and other players have tried without success to drum up support for such a disclosure requirement. I was distressed to learn that some of the most distinguished people in the poker industry — players, sponsors, tour operators, and tournament directors — have been unwilling to publicly support such a requirement.
They need to learn the lesson that the Mayor of Amityville learned the hard way. Before the conflict of interest beast rises up from the deep and takes a lethal bite out of public support for tournament poker, they should take preventive action.
No one wants to talk publicly about the risk of collusion at the table. But unless industry leaders show some leadership by setting up and enforcing sensible disclosure requirements, a major public scandal is inevitable. With tournament prize pools growing to tens of millions of dollars it is not a question of whether, but when.
By Ken Adams
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