During a recent interview for British magazine Poker Player, Negreanu apparently intended on take the training wheels off his sparkling clean spokesperson image to ride his big boy Huffy. When asked how he felt about men playing in the all-women event this year at the World Series of Poker, he had the following to say:

What irked me is men playing, using tampons as card protectors, and Shaun Deeb wearing a dress. I like Shaun Deeb, though. He’s a good kid – I think he was just misinformed. But then Annie Duke sticks her nose out and says, ‘Good for you, men, standing up for sexual equality.’ What a load of baloney! They are not standing up for sexual equality. Then she made some points in her blog that she thinks this event should be abolished, and I’m thinking, there are 1,000 women who love to play poker with each other, and don’t want to have to deal with guys burping, farting and using tampon card protectors and stuff like that.

What irked me is that this woman has the audacity on her website to call herself ‘the best female poker player in the world’. So on one side of the coin she’s fighting for, ‘Oh, we’re all equal, there shouldn’t be any gender thing,’ but when appropriate she decides to call herself the best female poker player in the world.

So I’m like how offensive are you, you f***ing c***? You want to say you’re speaking for women, yet you claim superiority over all of them.

That’s one hell of a way to break an image. While I agree to all extents that Duke is uppity, obnoxious, and an overall terrible human being (anyone familiar with her site’s cheating scandal and their lack of support for players having been cheated out of all of their money will understand this), Negreanu’s choice of words will momentarily do for his career what Tiger Woods going out and sleeping with anyone not named Elin Nordegren did for his.

Duke’s brother Howard Lederer was quick to respond via his Twitter account: “Hey Daniel, nice job representing poker and reinforcing that our attitude towards women is still Neanderthal.” Lederer was happy to respond because it meant his name would be included in articles such as mine and he would once again have relevance for a short period of time.

It didn’t take long for Negreanu’s major site sponsor to offer its impromptu damage control response:

Although Daniel Negreanu is a [sponsored pro], he is an entity to himself and as such will always be encouraged to express his views and speak his mind as he would otherwise do so, [sponsored pro] or not.

Annie Duke’s open letter didn’t seem all the worse for wear, as she seems generally content with being horribly berated by one of her peers just so long as her name appeared in the press:

I am not offended by Daniel’s opinion. He has a right to disagree with me and dislike me. And I, just like [his sponsors], would encourage him to express his views and opinions. This is not about his views. It is about a particular word he chose to express those views. The word “c***” is not an opinion, it is an abusive epithet, and [his sponsors] completely ignoring the use of that term in their response.

Negreanu is a grown man, even though his hyperactive, elfish demeanor may tell a different tale. He is responsible for his own actions and words. The mere fact Duke is looking for some sort of redeemable statement from his sponsors and is more offended they aren’t distancing themselves from him instead of looking to Negreanu for an apology is laughable at best.

For starters, Negreanu’s relationship is kismet: his sponsors need him, he needs his sponsors. Realistically, nobody is going anywhere in that relationship.

Secondly, the fact that Annie Duke is upset by how another site has handled itself is like John Wayne Gacy angrily calling somebody else a murderer or Cruella de Vil throwing paint on somebody else’s fur coat. If you want to comment on integrity, how about you start with writing an open letter to the loyal users of your site that got screwed by superusers.

Lastly, in that open letter, explain about how integrity is directly correlated to riding out a site sponsorship through public scandal and defined as resting easy at night with your endless, effortless fortune as multiple users who have lost a combined $1.5 million that they painstakingly grinded out now have absolutely nothing.

Albeit a poor choice of words, I think Negreanu was on to something.

_____________________________________

Follow Ray Finkle on Twitter!

The World Series of Poker recently released its rulebook for the upcoming 2010 series. New to this year, players arriving after the start of the third level of play (cough cough Phil Hellmuth) will be pleasantly surprised to see they’ve been removed from the tourney and are left to drown their sorrows in crab legs and prime rib at the casino buffet. This “no show” policy removes a players chip from play and money from the prize pool, holding it at the registration cage until it is collected by the entrant.

The 2009 logo policy is still in place, which bans the promotion of firearms, drugs, tobacco, lotteries, defamatory or obscene content, pornography, libel, or “advertises any online gaming site that conducts business with U.S. residents.”

Thanks largely in part to the impact Twitter has had on the poker community, the most profound change for 2010 is  that cell phones are once again permitted back on the tables, but only for those players with cards in the muck. Guidelines state:

“All cell phones and other voice-enabled and “ringing” electronic devices must be turned off during tournament play. Players not involved in a hand (cards in muck) shall be permitted to text/email at the table, but shall not be permitted to text/email any other player at the table. If Rio, acting in its sole and absolute discretion, believes a player is communicating with another player at the table, both parties will be immediately disqualified from the tournament and face imposition of additional penalties as described in Rule 37. All players desiring to talk on a cell phone must be at least one table length away from their assigned table during all said communication. Those individuals who talk on a cell phone not at least one table length away from their assigned table shall be subject to a penalty to be determined by Tournament Staff. No cell phones or other electronic communication device can be placed on a poker table.”

View all eight pages of WSOP regulations here (Adobe Acrobat reader required). 

When you follow us on Twitter, you get helpful links, exclusive tourneys, contests and coupons. But the best feature of Following CarbonPoker’s Twitter is the weekly $600+ Freeroll.

Fight it out on the virtual felts with other Tweeps for great coupons, accolades and more.

We get a ton of players in the tourney each and every Saturday, so get on Twitter and join in the fun.

Tourney Details:

Saturday at 14:30 Server Time (registration opens on Thursday @ 14:30). You get 2,500 starting chips and the game is Texas Hold’em. There are breaks every hour, so work on making it past the first 60minutes.

All you need to do to get in is:

1. Follow CarbonPoker

2. Go to the secure admin page and verify your account (check for that field)

3. Get yo’ coupon!

4. Play on Saturday!

As always, keep your eyes peeled for more Twitter promos. For a side-order of social media options, fan us on Facebook!

Brunson, who uses the account name @TexDolly, sent out a joke about Barack Obama on January 20th.  His joke/comment read as follows: “The Democrats say ‘give Obama time.’  Us Repubicans agree, 25 to life seems appropriate!”

Besides offending English buffs with his misspelling of Republicans, Brunson also drew the ire of Obama and Democrat supporters for the comment.  Numerous people sent Tweets back to Brunson chastising him for the shot he took at Obama; some people even accused him of being a racist.

Of course, the comments that labeled Brunson as a racist quickly prompted a response back from Doyle as he said, “Just because I don’t like the way things are going with Obama’s 1st year has nothing to do with the color of his skin.  Stop the racist BS!”

Poker pro Jeff Madsen chimed in on Brunson’s Obama Tweet by disagreeing in a more respectful manner.  Madsen wrote, “I respect u doyle but it seems that ur politics aren’t very informed are they. Don’t listen to television.”  Brunson responded back to Madsen by saying, “Yep, when I was 23 years old, I thought everybody should get a handout too. Now, I know better, let em get out and work.”

The controversial Tweet hasn’t stopped Brunson from sending out his barrage of blonde/politics jokes though as he recently typed the following, “Q..Name the most influential 1st Lady in American history…(hint…she was married to John Kennedy)…Blonde answer..Mrs Kennedy.”

Want to follow CarbonPoker on Twitter? Wish granted: Twitter.com/CarbonPoker

As well as these great freerolls, following us on Twitter will give you the inside track on some of our newest promos, exclusive contests and much more.

So, how do I get in the tourney? I bet you’re asking that. Everyone asks me that. Here you go:

1. Follow Us!

2. Verify your account on the Secure Twitter Page (you’ll need to scroll down and enter your Twitter username; helpful image below)

3. Sign up!

Tourney Details:

• Saturday October 24th, 2009 – 14:30 Server Time (registration opens on Thursday @ 14:30)
• 2,500 Starting Chips
• Texas Hold’em
• Breaks every 60minutes

Since everybody with the internet/cell phone/big mouth (see: everyone in the world) is on Twitter nowadays, there are a lot of folks eligible for the tourney. Get in on the action and slug it out with a ton of our followers.

If you’re not following CarbonPoker on Twitter, you should be. It’s the fastest way to keep up to date with tourneys, freerolls, announcements and much more.

Follow @CarbonPoker.

Tomorrow (September 26th), CarbonPoker is rolling out another $605 Freeroll for our dedicated followers on Twitter.

Last week we had 766 players fight it out in our online poker room for CarbonPoker Coupons. If you haven’t played in one of these events, you should really check it out. They’re free to enter and a lot of fun.

How do I enter? Give me the freeroll coupon?!>!111one!!q11!! I’m foreseeing the questions now. Here are the simple steps to get into the CarbonPoker Twitter Freeroll on September 26th:

1. Follow CarbonPoker
2. Visit the secure Twitter page in the admin
3. Enter your username, get confirmation number.

Tournament Details:

• 2,500 Starting Chips
• Twitter Follower Freeroll – Over $600 Value
• Sat 26th September 2009, 14:30:00 – Registration is open now!

Bonus 2.0! If you’re on Twitter, I’m positive you’re on Facebook. Check out the CarbonPoker Facebook page for more exclusive offers, freerolls and info.

That’s right – this weekend we’re launching with a new format, a new day and our biggest Twitter prizepool ever.

Win CarbonPoker coupons, that are as good as cash entries for our best guaranteed tournaments and SitNGos. We’re awarding prizes to the top 40 finishers.

What: Twitter Follower Freeroll
When: Saturday @ 14:30 (Server Time)
Who: Registered Twitter Followers

The PrizePool:
1st: $109 Coupon & Twitter Accolade
2-4: $109 Coupon
5-6: $60 Coupon
7-8: $11 Coupon
9-10: $2.20 Coupon
11-20: $1.10 Turbo SitNGo Coupon
21-40: $0.50 Turbo SitNGo Coupon

There are already 700 registered players. If you’re not, here’s how to do it:

1. Follow CarbonPoker
2. Visit the secure Twitter page in the admin
3. Enter your username, get confirmation number.

It’s that easy. I can’t put you in the freeroll. YOU put you in the freeroll

We’ve had a pretty big week at CarbonPoker. We launched The Carbon Million, picked the lineup for the Blogger Tourney and continue to roll with all of our regularly scheduled awesomeness.

It’s sweet to see so many great bloggers on board and new players through the door.

Here are some of our regularly scheduled highlights to spend your weekend with – c’mon, it’s better than going outside and getting a sunburn. CarbonPoker, promoting sun safety.

Weekend Tourneys:

$50,000 Guaranteed – Sunday @ 15:00 Server Time — $109 buy in or coupon

$250 Twitter Freeroll – all your Twitter FreeRoll Details.

There is plenty of other action, so check out your player admin for the full schedule.

Have a good weekend – you’ll hear from me on Monday.

This Sunday, all of our Twitter followers are going to be facing off in a $250 Twitter Freeroll.

These tourneys are free, fun and packed with players. We’ve been really close to 1000 players, but when we finally crack the number, we’ll double the prizepool to $500!

We get a lot of questions on how to register, so here are the 3 simple steps:

1. Follow CarbonPoker on Twitter
2. Visit the secure Twitter page in the admin
3. Enter your username, get confirmation number.

Sound good? Yep. It’s that easy.

Here are the details of the tourney:

2,500 Starting Chips
4min breaks every 60min
$250 Twitter ‘Follower’ Freeroll
Start Time: Sunday 5th July @ 2:30pm Server Time
$250 prizepool

RT this, send it to friends, post it around. We want to pack this event even more and double up the prizes.

Good luck out there!

Back by popular demand is the $250 Twitter Freeroll from CarbonPoker.

As we announced last week, if we get 1,000 or more players in this week’s freeroll, we’ll double the prizepool to $500! We’ve been CLOSE, but not there yet. Tell your friends and let’s raise the payouts.

How To Qualify:

1. Follow CarbonPoker on Twitter
2. Visit the secure Twitter page in the admin
3. Enter your username, get confirmation number.

The best part is, you only need to do this once! That’s right. If you’re entered and confirmed once, you will be eligible for every Twitter Freeroll we do.

Tournament Details:

2,500 Starting Chips
4min breaks every 60min
$250 Twitter ‘Follower’ Freeroll
Start Time: Sunday 5th July @ 2:30pm Server Time
$250 prizepool

Think you’re going to play and win? Call it early and put it in the comments!