Do you think poker Pros should be held to a higher standard like other celebrities?

I am thinking about Scotty Nuygens (?) performance at the WSOP HORSE event this year and pretty much any performance involving Mike Matusow.

Should abominable behavior dampen their endorsement prospects, like Michael Phelps' pot smoking or Carl Lewis' over the top cockiness?

Or does poker really not lend itself to these kind of image considerations?

I do not think too many kids are watching poker on TV, or having dreams of dominating the tournament circuit.

Is it different for poker players because poker is an entirely adult (well, supposed to be) activity?

What "standards"?

Michael Jackson is a pedophile. People still buy his albums and go to his concerts.

Woody Allen is a sexual pervert. People still go to his movies.l

O.J. Simpson is a multiple murderer and thief. And yet he still shows up.

Bill Clinton is a perjuror. And got re-elected.

Brittany Spears is a miserable drunk and negligent mother. And yet people seem to remain fascinated with her.

The Kennedys? Don't even get me started.

I think the concept of any standards of decency, morality or ethics died sometime in the 70's.

Ojs in jail Clinton was the best president of my generation. The kenndy name went to shit when everyone found out about JFK. Kids dont need to look up to poker players to find a good role model. Phelps still has millions in endorsments.
The only time you see a poker player is on espn or another tv network tourny. Poker players are not athletes. yes they have a skilll and compete against other people but they are not athletes. If the worst thing hellmuthe(sp) ever did was call some one an idiot on TV, than he is still just a pker player. Dont compare any poker player to an athlete

I don't understand holding any celebrity (poker players included) to a higher standard than ourselves. Just because they're famous doesn't mean they don't have a right to make mistakes like the rest of us.

I think that watching poker on TV glamorizes the poker lifestyle. Just from being on the fringes of the poker community, it is filled with drunks, criminals, drugs, and all types of other degenerates.

So, guess it is not much different than Hollywood, right?

Or Washington, D.C.

I think they should be held accountable like any other celebrity. They make the $$$CHING they should be held accountable like anyone else.

DonkeYSmash

No I do not .. I think everyone needs to mind their own business

I couldn't care less if Michael Phelps smoked pot .. what business is it of mine?

We are all human, we all make mistake .. just because someone plays a sport or is on tv why should it give us a right to judge what they do on their own time.

Just like the government needs to keep it's nose out of my online poker playing ... it's nobodys business but mine

A higher standard for celebs? Where? All you see is celebs of one type or another buying their way out of trouble. I say raise their standard to match that the rest of us are expected to live by.

But I do agree with BiggDawg on the point of it being none of our buisness. Or at least most of it. Now if they commit murder or something, ya, thats everyones buisness.

And if you think someone isnt a good role model for your kid(s), explain it to your kid(s). The TV might have a large influance on kids now, but their parents should have more.

people should be who they are, but if you are being shown all over the world being an arrogant a-hole, what does that show kids? at least appear to have morals and a sense of good character for those kids who are watching. and kids are watching because millions/ hundreds of thousands of dollars are involved in televised events and what kid doesn't dream of that kind of money? like i said be who you are, but understand you are put in the shoes of a role model when the cameras are on.

By "higher", I think always2away meant "lower".

You're living with your eyes closed if you don't see role models of the world turning the youth of America into loser scumbags who live on the spur of the moment because everyone wants to do whatever the hell they want. I suppose you can only blame them in part though. Lazy parents letting their children believe in nothingness and become filthy whores with no values are probably more to blame.

Celebs should be held to higher standards imo. It's not going to happen anytime soon, but they should.

Oh, and btw, Scotty at the WSOP HORSE event is no problem in my book. If there's a place to drink beers, cuss out your fellow competitors, rape people's pocket books, and be an overall huge arse, with no penalty, it's definitely at the poker table.

Am I an instant thread stopper or something? Are people afraid to disagree with me? Don't be.
State your opinion for the masses!

celebs are held to a higher standard?

news to me.

Meh.

Whether or not they should be held to a "higher standard" is between them and their sponsors. If the sponsors don't care, I don't see why we should.

I think that they should be held to a high standard of playing poker not how sparkling of a personality the have

They are just gamblers with a camera in their faces, don't get me wrong they are good at what they do, but you wouldn't expect the guys down at the OTB to act in a more professional manner if you put them on TV

Who gives a sh*t what they do? Besides relatively microscopical poker community, no one cares or even knows them. And huge amount of their "celebritishness" is created by their explicit behaviour. Today anyone can be a celebrity in a single day using youtube or like, its not so hard anymore, hence moral standards of "celebs" inevitably are going down.

Actually I think it works in the opposite way to the one which the OP implies. The more outrageous they are the more entertaining they become, so the more valuable they are as a "celebrity". They do say that all publicity is good publicity.

If you hold celebs to a higher standard than the people around you, all you're doing is forcing them to lie to you. And lying is a damned sight worse than most of the so-called moral infractions that people complain about.

Best to use your moral compass to navigate your own ship instead of shouting directions to the ships around you when you don't even know where they are going.

I dont think a higher standard, but there is a reason they are pros. They are among the best at what they do because they have a career worth of proof. It doesnt mean they will do amazingly at every poker event they play.

I wouldn't necessarily say they should be held to a higher standard, but they should be held to the same standard. Would a no-name poker player get away with acting like Phil Helmuth at the tables in the WSOP, I doubt it. As for Scotty's behaviour, when Mike the mouth says you are out of line, you should realize that you've gone too far.

I would say poker, from my experience, is still viewed as a shady thing, at least in the US. I'm not holding so-called professionals to a higher standard--I don't care. Some of them are degenerate gamblers. I don't care about celebrities and their personal lives. If they go out and help people in need, that's great! I certainly don't mind hearing that. They're just people, like you and me. Don't put them on a pedestal.

Politicians need to be held to a higher standard--they're supposed to be representing the people, to be serving their country.

certain poker players pretty much are celebrities and like all others there are exceptions to the rules. things that regular folks do that they are arrested for the celebs just get a slap on the wrist. they could and should be held to a higher standard but thats not how it goes in our society. All their money and fame can get them out of almost anything. Im from baltimore so the whole phelps thing is funny to me. He smoked a lil pot, not a big deal in my book and i dont even smoke the stuff. he did get a dui like 2 yrs ago though so he probably should get his stuff in check cause all the great things hes done will be overlooked if he keeps getting in trouble with the law.

Poker celebreties - like most other celebs - are only famous through TV.
Have they done anything really important for mankind save being very good at their profession
(be it playing card games, being pretty, having a nice voice aso).

I was never interested in their life and probably won't be in the future.
If they behave like morons, well probably they are.

The general problem of many young people today is that their parents weren't tought manners either, so how could they teach their children ?

I'm a teacher for maths, history and english and it's a daily struggle to teach kids to become self-confident, well-mannered individuals with an open mind and heart.
Many parents don't seem to be able to show them.

I recall my own school days - we had about 3 of 30 "problem-kids".
Nowadays a teacher can be called lucky who has 10 of 30 "normal" kids.

Children follow role-models - it was always so and prob will always be.

It's us as parents they are looking up to - or the tv/computer-screen.

There are so few celebrities that are worth anything. One of the few that I can think of that deserve being looked up to is Derek Jeter. Most of them are so full of themselves it's not even funny.