Saturday, January 5, 2008

The Next Sports Cheating Scandal??

I'm a big fan of watching poker on television. Especially Texas No-Limit Hold-'Em.

I don't get the travel channel or ESPN, so I don't get to watch as much as I'd like.

I was wondering what might be a competitive advantage for poker. Special commissions are naming baseball players who have used human growth hormone and steroids because it's considered cheating...it gives an unfair advantage (its not the illegality since HGH is legal and steroids was often prescribed by a physician thereby making it legal). So what is that secret X factor for poker players?

Poker players must keep poker faces. They must keep their cards close to their vest. They must not show any difference in how they play depending on whether they have good or bad cards. In the big tournaments, a person's "tells" mean the difference between losing $10K and becoming a millionaire.

Some players wear sunglasses. Others wear hoodie sweat-shirts that they pull over their entire face. But isn't this just going half-way?

Is Botox the next sports cheating scandal?

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