WHAT THE “F” IS GOING ON !!

Over the past couple of years or so, the subject of swearing in poker has reared it’s head on many occasions. The use of “the f word” has been debated countless times and there have been some major incidents in tournaments where some big name players have had to sit out for various lengths of time as a penalty for swearing, using the “f” word to be more specific.

I think that the whole issue of the “f” word thing is starting to get a little silly and I dare say that I will receive criticism for saying this. But I feel that there really is a much wider issue going on here than whether or not a player says **** during the course of play. The number of ways that a player can be abusive and offensive around a poker table are too numerous to mention. Nearly all of these have absolutely nothing to do with the “f” word.

There are large numbers of people who complain about this who are probably not even offended by it at all, they do it either because they need something interesting to do (come on get a life) or because they are angle shooting. I read a news report on a major tournament a while back where a dealer reported a player to the tournament supervisor for whispering the “f” word under their breath out of earshot of any other player, is this crazy or what.  If there is a rule that forbids the use of the “f” word, then surely intense provocation with the sole intent of inducing people to swear has to be looked at as well. Otherwise this just gives the angle shooters another angle.

Am I condoning foul language around a poker table, certainly not! But please define offensive, what constitutes offensive differs widely from person to person. Religion, sex and politics are perhaps the three most heatedly discussed topics on the planet. Two out of those three subjects have actually caused wars ( maybe sex has from time to time ). Just one badly directed comment on any of these subjects could cause more offence than a dozen “f” words.

Please don’t tell me that when a guy shouts **** after he has just been shafted in a huge pot with runner runner, that they are doing something that is worse than the guy who for instance makes unwanted sexual remarks to a female dealer or player (or male for that matter). Or how about the guys who are racist, pick their noses, bite their fingernails, break wind, belches loudly, sneeze all over the place, slow roll, trash talks and so on.

The list is endless, trash talking is perhaps THE most universally annoying thing that is done by anyone around a poker table. I have yet to see anyone complain about the “f” word in any of the poker games that I have played but plenty have left the game because of trash talk.. I have even seen people assaulted and been threatened with death because of this. If people are easily offended by the use of this one word then why in heavens name do they persist in habiting smoke filled poker rooms filled almost entirely with males, a fair number of whom are a long way removed from being ideal role models to put it mildly.

Singling out just one swear word in an attempt to clean the game up is just silly in my opinion. Grown adults should not be treated like schoolboys and sent to the naughty corner to be punished. The players themselves are putting up substantial amounts of money to enter some of these big tournaments and many of the regular professionals are under tremendous pressure to perform and get results. I play poker professionally and I fully understand what the natural fluctuations that are inherent in the game can do to your head. It is bad enough sometimes when you play at the $30-$60 and $40-$80 level, god only knows what it must be like to play games where six and seven figure sums can be won and lost on the turn of a card.

One bad beat can literally make or break a players entire year and remember the old saying, “poker is a tough way to make an easy living”. So the next time that someone shouts **** on your table, remember that just because you may be there to have a great time and enjoy yourself, the other person whose entire livelihood may depend on it might actually be having a ******* bad day at the office.