The Need for a Standards and Conduct Committee

Professionalism: Business and Ethics in Poker

Topics: Matthew Glantz, Standards and Conduct Committee, Epic Poker League, Player Columns

We must realize that the one thing that separates poker from other mainstream sports and organized competitions is that the public mainly views poker as a backroom, cutthroat business. One of the main reasons for this view is that poker-related media, (movies, television, internet) display a significant amount of Wild West mentality. Movies show guns and cheating at the poker table. Televised poker celebrates inebriated and other unbecoming erratic behavior from top players. Internet gaming websites break U.S. law when it suits them. Internet forums catalogue cheating allegations that for the most part are probably true.

Even if the media delivers this message selectively – cheating and dishonorable conduct are rare among top professionals in high-stakes games and televised tournaments, as are drunkenness and abusive behavior, and the legal situation of online poker in the U.S. made a challenge to the system inevitable – players trying to make a living in poker bear the cost, and ultimately the responsibility, for this message. We can’t control the actions of every poker player and we can’t control what the media reports – but we can try to control how the public understands this information.

Skilled players need to be advocates for a positive image for poker. The Standards and Conduct Committee for the Epic Poker League is the first step to get things on the right path. I would like to state that I am in full support of the Epic Poker League. I love what they are doing for the members of their league and I can only hope that the EPL is able to continue on a path of success down the road. That being said, even if the EPL is not in existence some years ahead, it is important that the Standards and Conduct Committee – or a similarly tasked group of players and advisors – transcends the EPL into a formal body that oversees all of poker. This is what poker needs to succeed as a mass-market sporting activity to the media, advertisers and marketing partners, and the public. There are no other sports or games leagues with large television or stadium viewership without some form of Standards and Conduct Committee.

I am not saying that this particular committee is the right group of people to decide what is right and wrong in poker. I am not saying that this committee had to be born out of the EPL. What I am saying is that this is the only such entity we have in poker right now and therefore the poker community needs to support this committee or form something better outside the EPL to fill this void. If you care about the future of poker and want the game to grow to new levels, you should support cleaning up the game of poker.

I made it clear to the Epic Poker League that when I joined the committee, I will not be there to make decisions to support the EPL in its business ventures. I will be there solely as a voice of poker, trying to better the entire poker community. With that knowledge they added me to the committee and they should be commended.

The future of poker is starting now. Internet gaming legislation seems inevitable now and with the boom pending, we need to get it right this time. We as a community should come together and support all aspects of poker that lead us in the right direction. At the same time, we need to clean up our game in all ways that will help to legitimize poker as a skillful game, worthy of being a widely-viewed spectator sport.