Day One (A) at the WPT World Poker Finals

Regarding the unusual hand between Tran and his opponent on table 39, where the dealer turned over the cards of the opponent even though the opponent motioned to fold by throwing his cards in face down and conceding defeat after the flop:
The dealer on table 39 should be fired immediately and suspended form dealing anywhere for at least 6 months. The only argument that this dealer could have possibly had to try and protect his reason for turning up the face down cards of Tran's all-in opponent is that the player had put the money in and therefore the cards are live and should be turned over. Unfortunately for the dealer, that argument is incorrect because although the money was in the pot, the action of the player throwing the cards towards the muck (and conceding defeat) came AFTER the flop and AFTER the money is all-in and it is THAT new action that the dealer is supposed to respond to - TO MUCK THE HAND!! The only way that hand can be saved is if Tran himself asks to see what he had (which would be a huge blunder, almost as bad as the blunder where the opponent actually conceded the pot and technically mucked his hand) or if the player that threw the cards down reacts quickly enough to change his mind and ask the dealer to turn the cards back up (before they are mucked in the already face down position). We can speculate that the dealer simply made a terrible mistake or we can also assume that this dealer likes action and perhaps wanted to see the hand with some showdown action; the latter speculation of course being far worse. Either way, the dealer must be more than just simply reprimanded for this mistake.
I have been saying the same thing since I was a kid: Games, Sports and events of competition are very often won by the blunder of the opponent, either due to lack of discipline, lack of endurance or simply a mistake. Tran's opponent simply made a mistake, a "blunder", and was saved by the dealer's error (Yes, the floor ruling is correct, unfortunately for Tran. A referee making an incorrect call in a game is similar to the dealer performing an incorrect action that cannot be corrected).
Chess, being one of the oldest and most traditional games, sets the standard for all games and "the blunder" is a huge reason for many losses by top contenders, often including the best or favorite contenders in any game, sport or event. If all players were equal in regards to discipline, endurance and perfection, there would be no competition. Players that falls short on endurance (causing a mental or physical mistake) or becomes impatient (and performs undisciplined actions) are the two biggest reasons there are winners and losers and is the chemistry for interesting completion.
Poker rooms (including the best ones) have so many new tournament rules that actually protect the amateurs from their blunders. The field of poker is so big now due to the recent explosion of amateurs, and as a result of this, the amateurs outnumber the pros 10 to 1 (more or less, depending on the type of tournament) thus causing tournament officials to respond to the most ridiculous and outrageous suggestions by the amateurs that only help to protect the amateurs themselves. Most of the new rules and rules changes are ludicrous. A whole chapter could be written about this problem alone, but I will give you one alarming example of how bad the rules have gotten: I was in a large tournament at binions last month and the field was almost completely full of amateurs. I was in a hand heads up with a player where the pot was 4000 and my opponent had the same chip count as me, approximately 12000. He bet half the pot on the flop and I went into the tank for about a minute. I then put both my hands on my stack and straightened up and stiffened my body, in the same manner one acts when they are ready to move the chips forward for an all-in. Keep in mind that I had not budged my chips one bit, but was simply trying to get a read on my opponent. The reaction he gave me was an impatient one. He became very edgy and wouldn't stop talking for about 30 seconds. His remarks were very ornery and the other players stared him down, muttering remarks of their own under their' breath about what they thought of him. He then lost his patience, went out of control and threw all of his chips in out of turn, as a way to show that he is not afraid to call me if I do go all-in. I immediately requested the tournament director, stating that this move is inappropriate and is an attempt to steal my position at the time. I further reminded the director that after the ruling is made, the player should be slapped with a penalty, as would be the case if this were the WSOP. The director actually went about it backwards. He first explained to the player that he will be given a one round penalty to sit out (good call, but strange to state that before the ruling on the actual hand was even given). The ruling on the hand came next, and was bizarre!! The player would actually have to call me if I indeed did go all-in! This made no sense. Suppose he had a mediocre hand and suppose I had nothing; I could no longer bluff or semi-bluff him out of the pot because he would be forced to call. On the flipside of course, if I were holding a strong hand it would benefit me if he were forced to call with a mediocre hand or perhaps even nothing at all. Either way though, he was forced to call any bet I made, so this ruling actually protected him from me trying to potentially steal the pot if I were to bluff or semi-bluff. As a matter of fact, my hand was a good semi-bluff hand and before all the drama occurred I was actually going to only call him because I suspected he did have at least top pair and he may have called me if I went all-in. The bet was only half the pot and worth calling with my nut flush and one overcard draw. After he made that horrible move however, my call now would prove I am weak because if I were strong I would naturally go all-in knowing he would be forced to call. This ruling came after I had already explained to the director that his move takes away from my position and should not stand and was a bad move on his part and should be disregarded and also, that he should be penalized. I was forced to muck because of the bad ruling!!
You no longer can find a poker room in Vegas that allows people to play the way the game is supposed to be played because there is so much competition between poker rooms in Vegas to attract players to their tournaments, and therefore all the poker rooms are adopting all these ridiculous new and changed rules.
Paul
Thornhill, Canada
416-921-4077