I’ve never been a stickler for online poker etiquette. I often follow certain kinds of rules not because I feel like I have to, but because it’s how a human should act. There’s a lot of poker players out there these days who seem to have let their recent prowess or ‘poker fame’ get the better of them. They seem to forget that at the basis of this game, we’re all just playing cards.

I started thinking about this mainly in watching the posing a player whose game I much admire, Phil Hellmuth, acting like he is a great Rembrandt, or above the world. It’s not the tantrums that bother me; in fact part of what I liked about Hellmuth was his ranting and silliness, his berating awful players. It was a laugh, and then seemed honest, and I think in the long run, good for the game. Now, though, you see Phil Hellmuth on Poker After Dark or etc., and every word that comes out of his mouth relates to his genius, to how wonderful and famous he is. Phil, you’re not that witty. The shtick is getting old. Kill the online poker ego. Save a little face.

The whole poker branding thing, the development of characters and false theatrics, I think, in the long run, is bad for the game. By applying Hollywood characteristics and marketing to a game, it kills something in me, in the player who truly love the game for what it is. Thankfully, not all of the players allow this to happen to them. There will always be the Allen Cunninghams, the Gus Hansens, the Sam Farhas, who are in the game to play it, not to be seen. And that is what keeps poker on TV refreshing.

So please, for all you limelight stars, remember that this is a game. Be a sport. Shake your opponent’s hand. Relax.