Apparently, Daniel Negreanu has not yet gotten over what happened in the EPT Barcelona High Roller event earlier this year. In his latest video blog, he is once again ranting on Rule #29.
You may remember Daniel Negreanu’s outrage over the enforcement of TDA Rule #29 during this year’s EPT Barcelona €10,000 High Roller event, as well as his self-inflicted elimination from the event. The PokerStars Pro went completely mad over the implementation of the Tournament Directors Association’s “first card off the deck” rule, which he found unfair.
According to the rule, if a player is not at their seat when the first dealt card hits the table, their hand is killed. The aim is to speed up the game, as many players tend to wander away from their seats, visiting multiple tables during tournaments. However, “at their seat” does not mean they are not even allowed to stand up but that they must be within arm’s reach.
Negreanu happened to be talking to Philipp Gruissem, who sat at the adjoining table, before returning to his own to post the small blind. He did not sit down, though, but stayed standing beside his chair and kept conversing with Gruissem. Meanwhile, the cards were dealt and the dealer mucked Negreanu’s hand. The five times WSOP champion, already known to have criticized the rule, turned back to see his hand killed.
In a way that resembled more Hellmuth than Negreanu, he went on to comment the events along the lines of “These f***ing rules are so stupid they make me want to shoot myself in the face!” Despite efforts on the part of the tournament director to calm him down, Negreanu eventually moved blind all-in in the next hand and got eliminated.
Later, however, ‘KidPoker’ did re-buy and finished 2nd for $352,881. Still, he has been unable to come to terms with the incident and continued to attack the implementation of the rule via his Twitter as well as his blog.
After three weeks, he is apparently still preoccupied with the question, giving an account of his view in his latest video blog entry. According to him, the TDA regulations are too strict and they hurt players’ rights, whereas it would be important to provide a friendly atmosphere in the tournaments, especially for recreational players.
What is your take on Negreanu’s ideas?