It has been played out over and over on my television – the sight of the airplanes crashing, the aftermath, and the effects on people's lives. It is obviously a day that will go down in history, and one that will remain imbedded in the minds of many.

On the night of Sept. 11, I sat down to play some poker. What I found was that I couldn't concentrate on anything; I was still in a total state of shock. I managed to play for a short period of time, and then retreated to the television to watch the coverage of the tragedy.

In the days that followed, there were decisions to be made all over the country. When would the decision be made to fly the commercial airplanes that had been grounded? Would baseball's regular-season games be played out? Would the Olympics be held in 2002? What would happen with the remainder of the football season?

There were decisions to be made in small and large businesses, and the families that were affected had decisions to make. There were people all over the country being told, "You make the call."

On Sept. 11, there were hands of poker being played all over the United States I did not hear about a single poker room being closed, or a game being halted. There was a major tournament at the Four Queens in Las Vegas that played on. In the days following, people questioned why this tournament was played. I would ask, why would it not have been? If all Americans had cancelled their daily routines, the terrorists would have won. Poker was played, lives went on, and things will someday return to normal.

Now, here's my column for this issue:

During this year's Tournament of Champions, a rule was put into place that gave an automatic 20-minute penalty to anyone who used the F-word. On the first hand of the tournament, a normally cool-headed poker player was given the penalty. There was a lot of discussion on this rule, and lots of people had opinions on both sides of the argument. I, for one, think the rule is great. I don't think there is any reason to ever use foul language at the table. If you have suffered a bad beat, get up from the table and take a walk. If every major and minor tournament in poker were to use this rule, the overall image of poker would be cleaned up, and a player who normally uses foul language in the course of his conversations would soon realize that his demeanor is a detriment to his chances of winning a tournament.

Sometime during the first day of the TOC, a well-known player was assessed a penalty for using the F-word while on break. Apparently, a floorman was walking by this player and overheard him using the word in a conversation with another player. To me, this was a ridiculous application of the rule. The floorman's justification was that the player was in the tournament area and was therefore subject to tournament rules. I am all for cleaning up the language at the poker table, but delving into a player's conversation borders on the ridiculous.

I hope that the overall mood in the United States will spill over into the poker community. With all that has happened recently, it would be nice to sit at a poker table and not have to worry about people fighting with each other and cursing. If it were up to me, anyone who fought, threw cards, cussed, or violated the rules would be handcuffed to a chip runner and dragged through the casino while the pan players threw pencils at him.