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Legendary poker pro and strategy expert Mike Caro believes that the World Poker Tour may have just made a “Monster” mistake.
He’s alluding to their new sponsorship deal with Monster, a leading manufacturer of high performance cables that connect audio/video components for home, car and professional use as well as computers and computer games. Additionally, Monster has gotten into the flat screen mounting and speaker business. They also manufacture some of the best noise cancelling headphones on the market today and this product, in particular, is especially appealing to today’s poker players.
"This deal makes me sad, because I’ve always been a fan of the WPT, made TV appearances on their behalf, and even taught twice at the poker Boot Camp in Las Vegas beaaring its name,” Caro posted on his blog Tuesday.
Caro also admits to being a big fan of Monster, a company that has also sponsored UFC events in the past.
So what exactly is the big deal over this big sponsorship deal?
The WPT noted the perfect synergies between both organizations in announcing the partnership deal.
“With poker being the only televised sport where players regularly wear headphones during competition and use music to help their focus at the table, this is the perfect partnership.”
Caro wholeheartedly disagrees with such an assessment.
“It may facilitate poker partnerships, though, because electronic equipment at the poker table has the potential to be exploited by sophisticated cheats. I’ll leave that technical discussion for another day. But those of you who have followed my crusade to promote poker ethics know what I’m saying. I have confidence in the WPT staff and my friend Mike Sexton, in particular, to be alert to that.
“Headphones worn by players at the poker table don’t “help their focus at the table,” as stated in the article. They harm focus and make it difficult for opponents to focus, too, thus changing real poker into some hybrid competition far removed from the original intent.”
The phenomenon began around 2002 when the World Series of Poker began to permit players to wear headphones during play and listen to music. Two years later, close to a third of all participating players including the likes of Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey were seen wearing headphones.
At that time, Chuck Ansbacher of PokerListings.com was among the first to raise concerns over the use of headphones at the tables.
“When a player has headphones in (sic), they theoretically can't hear what is being said at the table. They often ask the dealer if they have to call or raise, what the bet is, and other questions. Playing this inability up could potentially work to a player's advantage. Just another gag in their arsenal of tricks to mess with their opponents and have them think that the game they're playing is far from their mind.”
Caro asserts: "The main issue I have with headphones while at the table is that it detracts from the game of poker and interferes with tells and psychological competition that defines true poker. In fact, that’s what makes poker a unique game."
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
