Some of the best poker players in the USA have taken to Twitter to debate on a live poker ban. Led by Jason Koon, these players insist that players banned for cheating in online poker games should not be allowed to play live poker tournaments as well.
Koon made the suggestion through a polarizing statement on Twitter a few days ago. This has attracted discussion from the poker community, with individuals having different opinions about it.
In one of the latest tweets, Koon wants all players to have a safe space by banning cheaters. The GGPoker ambassador feels that an online blacklist will work. This suggestion received support.
But, Doug Polk insists that implementing an online blacklist would be difficult. Overall, Doug agrees with Jason.
What is the Issue with Jason’s Idea?
While Jason’s idea seems perfect, it has several issues. For starters, Polk has raised concerns on how to run it. Polk mentioned that someone would need to hire staff to evaluate cheating cases.
This would mean more spending for poker room owners like him. Polk, Brad Owen, and Andrew Neeme are the latest poker pros to own a poker room. The three are the owners of the Lodge Poker Club in Texas, the biggest room in the state.
Polk said that he would need to evaluate banned players to determine whether it is true they cheated. He also said that a live poker room would not automatically ban players because they were on an online blacklist.
Tony Dunst, a World Poker Tour commentator, shared Polk’s thoughts.
Another issue is whether online poker operators would be willing to share player details with land-based poker rooms and casinos. According to Matt Berkey, information related to cheating is only shared internally among online casinos. As such, it would be difficult to implement Jason’s idea.
These are some of the valid reasons raised about banning players from live games. But, there are more complex reasons.
For example, some online poker rooms allow the use of Real-Time Assistance while others do not. If a player is banned from one site for using Real-Time Assistance, live operators would have a difficult time deciding whether to ban them too or not.
Other poker players use various software such as solvers when playing online games. Unfortunately, there is no universal rule dictating whether using this software is wrong or not or what constitutes cheating.
The Social Media Debate Continues
More and more poker pros are joining the social media debate, with most supporting Koon. For example, Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club owner and Rob Yong, a PartyPoker partner, fully support Koon. In fact, Yong has pledged to see coordination among all poker rooms to enforce the ban.
A three-time World Series of Poker winner, Julien Martini, also agrees with Koon. She said that there was no room for online cheaters at live games.
Meanwhile, the discussion is still ongoing. For now, it is not clear which direction the debate will take. But, you can expect different opinions from poker pros.
Yet, the common goal for the poker community is to safeguard the game’s integrity and ensure safe and fair gaming. Should live poker operators decide to ban online cheaters, the poker community will have to agree on several issues.
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