These are all phrases that I've known since I made my first trip to Reno back in 1995. I fell in love with poker. Everything about it just made me want to play more. I made trips to Las Vegas, Reno, and Mississippi to play poker in the late nineties. One day, I was in a sports bar and looked up and they were playing poker on TV. It was the World Series of Poker. I laughed, thinking that ESPN had finally run out of sports to air. The next day, it was on again, only this time I was watching. I couldn't get enough of it. Then came the World Poker Tour. This was on every Wednesday night and it was the one show that I would not miss. I loved seeing these guys make bluffs with hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake. Then, something went wrong-poker became part of mainstream America!
All of a sudden, everybody was a poker player. There was this new thing where players were calling other players donkeys or fish and sportsmanship went out the window. These people were now trash talking like they were about to break into a "Oh yeah, well your mama's so ......" It's gotten so bad that every time somebody gets knocked out of a tournament, they tell the person that beat them how bad of a player that they are. HUH?? When Greg Maddux strikes out Albert Pujols, I'm sure Pujols doesn't say to Maddux that he stinks or that he's the worst pitcher he's ever seen! The game once comprised of gentlemen has been lost to the Jerry Springer generation.
The worst part is that poker is everywhere now. Fox, NBC, FSN, ESPN, Game Show Network, and the Travel Channel are the main culprits, but even BET had a celebrity game the other night with a few people including one member of the Wu-Tang Clan. Professional poker players are now making appearances on talk shows or game shows. It's gotten too big for it's own good. I still watch the World Series of Poker because I like the coverage that is provided and I still like the game despite the dumbing down of the players and the overexposure. All I'm saying is "Enough is enough already!!"
