In response to the "Dark Side of Heroes..." blog

I was going to post a blog that had a similar point to this one (Dark Side of Heroes and Role Models, posted by Paganmama), but mine is more specific to poker players. I wasn't sure if I wanted to post this, but I decided I would, to see what others thought about what I am saying.

I watched the video of Scotty making an ass of himself on YouTube, and then I watched videos with Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow and Shahram Sheikhan also conducting themselves less than respectably during poker contests. What I started to think about is that these people are, essentially, gamblers, and they are not necessarily trying to be role models, they are trying to make money. Granted they have wide public exposure, and the public sort of expects them to understand that their actions can influence those watching them, but many of these guys have been playing poker longer than it has been the media phenomenon it has become in the last ten years.

Unlike other professional sports, where it should be understood going into it that kids watch them and idolize the athletes, so they should conduct themselves responsibly and respectably, poker players play an adult game that children are not allowed to compete in at an organized level, in most cases. There are no age restrictions on baseball, basketball, football, hockey, etc., but casinos have age restrictions, and so do online poker sites, if I am not mistaken. It takes responsibility and maturity to choose to risk one's own money when gambling, and this is at least one reason why children are not allowed to do it at an organized level.

Poker is a game of lying (bluffing), stealing, and doing everything you can to try to take money from your opponent and put it into your own pocket. I love poker, but sometimes I wonder if it is healthy for my moral compass. I don't let these strategies carry over into other areas of my life, but maybe I would be a better poker player if I did. Who knows? And many poker players do conduct themselves with respect and grace most or all of the time. I do not think it is wrong to idolize poker players, but we have to remember that these are basically normal people who happen to excel at a particular game of chance, for various reasons. It is hard to compare poker players to other professional athletes, when discussing role models, because there are many differences between the two genres of competition. But as Paganmama said, a person who has flaws, and makes mistakes, but is able to take responsibility for their mistakes is, in my opinion, a much better role model than one who is too arrogant to acknowledge their own part in the mistakes that they make. These are my $0.02, and I'll probably lose them at the poker tables.