FULL TILT POKER BLOG

#200 – WSOP #49 – Nolan Dalla’s Response to David Singer

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I have a very high regard for Nolan Dalla. Apart from being a friend, I consider him a straight shooter with a lot of integrity. I called him at 11:43 PM about what I was writing in entry #199 and he called me back by 11:53 PM. He told me he sympathized with Singer, considered him a player of utmost integrity and felt it was unfortunate what happened. But he (on behalf of Harrah’s and the World Series of Poker) disagreed with David’s view of the situation and made it clear the ruling of the floor was correct. This was Nolan’s statement to me:

“The announcements that are made on the subject are unequivocal: no text messages, no use or talking on cell phones. They don’t say anything about a player shutting off a cell phone as a matter of courtesy. The player in question did not look at the phone. He shut the phone off and put it back in his pocket.”

“This ruling was based on the spirit of the law. A player turning a cell phone off gains no information. That’s the bottom line.”

“We looked at the phone. There was no text message. No answering of the cell phone. Did he answer the phone? No. Did he talk on the phone? No. How did he gain an advantage? He didn’t.”

“We live in a new age, an age of technological advancements. Players text between hands, answer their cell phones between hands. We recognize that players may have reasons for not turning their cell phones off. It is impossible to police everyone’s cell phone at every instance. Therefore, the rules have to be flexible to respond to each situation. I believe the correct decision was made here.”

MY OPINION – NO LACK OF GOOD FAITH BY HARRAH’S BUT THE WRONG DECISION

That will undoubtedly close the matter, though I can’t say I like the outcome. Though it would be almost impossible to fashion a remedy – this is like when the umpire clearly missed the tag and declared a runner safe, but you can’t go back and show the umpire the other angle – I disagree with the interpretation of the rule. I’m sure David Singer would prefer the player discourteously letting the phone ring for a few seconds instead of being put in the awkward situation of having to ask the floor to rule on the matter, that step itself forcing him to give away information about his hand. And if the player had a sick family member because of whom he needed to keep his cell phone on, he always has the option of taking the call and giving up the hand. If his wife is having a baby or a relative is dying, take the call. And muck the hand.

I don’t doubt the good faith of Nolan Dalla or the Harrah’s/WSOP people on whose behalf he is speaking. I have said several times in this Blog that these guys are capitalists and wringing all the money they can out of the Series, but they have begun to learn from mistakes, respect the players, and do right by them. This is not a mistake they are trying to cover up. But I still think it’s a mistake.

Just for fun, I may take some calls from Jo Anne while I play on Monday. She’s in a different state so it’s impossible she’ll have information to give me from which I can gain a benefit in the hand. If I don’t hold up play and I can show that my wife is in Arizona, and record the call to show it had no poker content, I don’t see why they can’t rule in my favor.

The cell phone rule was Harrah’s idea, and I remember Steve Z last year telling me in the Full Tilt lounge about a time he walked away from the table and took a call. He was not at his seat, his hand was dead, he wasn’t playing – but the dealer still issued him a warning about getting off the phone. If it’s a good rule – whether it’s about players getting information or the tournament getting mucked up by every massage-getting, chicken-wing eating jerk also juggling his cell phone during a hand – they are undermining it by leaving it up to this kind of interpretation.

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