PokerStars termination of Team Online player Dale Philip’s contract for an excessive celebration during a World Cup watch party wasn’t just excessive in my opinion, it was a bad decision by a company who usually makes all the right calls.
Now, I don’t know if there is more to the story (maybe Dale had already been warned over some other infraction(s) in the past) but the public story is his sacking was over the World Cup celebration, so that is what I’m going on. Full disclosure, I haven’t spoken to Dale or anyone at PokerStars on this matter to keep from being swayed.
So from my perspective it appears PokerStars decided to terminate him for excessive celebration (doing the Spaceballs salute to Spanish fans) at an open bar World Cup watch party. Which leads me to ask: Is this the type of sin that simply can’t be tolerated in poker anymore? This is the line we dare not cross?
It’s not scammers or angle-shooters or multi-accounters we need to punish, it’s people who get rowdy cheering on a futbol team?
Why Dale was PokerStars top Team Online Ambassador
Here’s a little tidbit: To the best of my knowledge, which is somewhat lacking on this front, I am followed on Twitter by one member of Team PokerStars Online (now a former member) Dale “daleroxxu” Philip. Furthermore Dale added me, and because of that he’s one of maybe 10 poker players I follow on Twitter –when I purged my Twitter of poker players keeping Dale was a no-brainer.
In fact Dale is the only current member of Team PokerStars Online I could even name off the top of my head. Think about that for a second: Dale Philip is the only member of Team Online I know of, and I wouldn’t know him without the Twitter add.
So of all the Team Online players (I’m assuming there are a bunch) Dale would have been the one I reached out to if I needed a comment for a column –which has never happened– and if I saw he was deep in an event I would likely note it in tournament reports and mention he is a member of Team PokerStars Online.
Which I’m assuming is one of the main reasons Team Online players exist?
Whether this happened by accident (maybe he liked an article I wrote and added me) or Dale simply added a bunch of media members to boost his profile a bit, it was probably the smartest thing he ever did (not adding me, but adding media members), and is precisely the type of action PokerStars should want from their sponsored players.
I don’t really cover that part of the poker world, but Dale still managed to put his name in my head and all it took was a simple gesture. Something not a single other member of Team Online managed to do.
Dale was also a bit of a character from what I can gather. He wasn’t some 20-something online grinder who saw the light of day for 10 minute cigarette breaks in between mass multi-table session. He was funny, a bit controversial, and had a personality –pretty much what you’d want in a sponsored pro.
Why I disagree with him being let go
What really sours me about the termination is the speed with which it occurred. When another Team Online player turned out to be a complete fraud (remember PeachyMer?) it took quite a while for PokerStars to sack her/him. And are you trying to tell me that when Dusty Schmidt was a member of Team Online he never said anything inflammatory?
Furthermore, I’ve seen the video, and it’s more funny than anything. Anyone who disliked his celebration should have thrown popcorn at him. As Dale said in his blog on the matter, “Have these people ever actually gone to a competitive football match before?”
You can even see virtually everyone laughing and joking while he is doing it, including the red-shirted Spaniards. It’s on a different level, but this is tame compared to some of Daniel Negreanu’s transgressions with salty language or poor taste jokes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xqsEo5VIdc
It’s the frickin World Cup! He wasn’t at a swanky movie premier or a dinner party, he was outside by a pool at a World Cup watch party.
I once went to Yankee Stadium to watch my beloved Red Sox play and a small group of us went from bar to bar chanting and holding up signs, and the Yankees fans would boo us and shout us down… and it was all in good fun.
The entire game we were heckled, and had the Sox won we would have heckled back… That’s how sports work; especially world class futbol.
It seems like PokerStars caved in to a dozen or so vocal detractors, which sets a dangerous precedent down the road. I mean, couldn’t I just spend the day trolling Team Online players and wait for one of them to lash out and then get a bunch of friends to start complaining about their unacceptable behavior?
Finally, you should want someone who is a bit controversial: Negreanu, Tony G, Hellmuth, they all have their detractors.
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