Randy,
This was not a scandal. And the mainstream media and the public had zero interest in pool well before this incident. They have zero interest in pool because it's boring to watch and it's not outside in nice scenery.
Nobody is more disappointed in the result of that night than I. I've replayed it countless times in my head in the two days since the tournament, wondering if I should have done it differently. There was a terrible confluence of events leading up to my decision, not the least of which that I was already dead tired, I had to go to work the next morning, and I had to drive myself home. I'd have been more dangerous than that lady on the Taconic if I played another 3 hour match at that point.
I'm upset with myself for not thinking of some alternatives: I could've asked my wife to take the train at 12:30 am to Comet, be picked up by Mr. Haley, so she could watch some of the final and then drive me home. I could've stayed in a hotel room that night, gotten three hours of sleep, and then driven to work in the morning (this was not a great option but I still didn't think of it). Finally, I could've asked Dan if he would agree to play the finals in the days leading up to the World Championships, since we'd both be at Comet anyway. If a delayed finals was good enough for the World Series of Poker Main Event, why not for us? I just didn't think of it, and in truth Dan may not have accepted it.
I wasn't thinking clearly about how many people might've been watching the live stream. I knew it was getting some pretty good numbers during the day, but I figured that the online audience was probably looking a lot like the live audience at that point - about 15 guys, 6 of whom were asleep at any given moment lol (I don't blame them).
With the current economic situation, and some big financial responsibilities I have coming up, even if I could've found a way home at 4am this was simply not the right time for me to stroll into work at noon on Monday. As many of you know, I could explain it was a national championship til I was blue in the face; to a non-pool player, all that sounds like is "I was out late playing pool."
One last thing in my defense - nobody in the room that night, not the tournament director, the room owner, Pat Fleming, Dan Louie, or any of the spectators expressed any level of dissatisfaction with my decision. I'm absolutely not blaming them - I'm just stating that, that night, there was no lingering feeling that I was doing something very wrong to the fans or the game. Everyone was just like, "It's late, I understand." In the room that night, there was no indication that a thread like this would be started the next morning.
However, the above information is not relevant to the fans or to the game itself. I owed everyone and myself more. I sincerely apologize to those affected and upset. I really had no idea of the magnitude of the situation until the next morning when I read this thread. And I'm just sick about it, to know that I played such a direct role in something that hurt the integrity of the game.
So back to the word "scandal". It's hurtful when what I did is compared to, say, what Strickland did against Corey Deuel all those years ago, quitting in the finals in front of paying spectators, at a regularly scheduled time (i.e., not 12:30am). That is disgraceful, that is a scandal, and that is not what I did. We also did not chop up the prizes; Dan Louie was the winner of the tournament, got all the first place goodies and money, and he completely deserved all of it. What a tremendous player he is, and I'm really happy I got to finally meet him and learn from him.
It's also hurtful when I've been such a responsible and (I hope) contributing member of the pool community for over a decade now, and now because of this regrettable situation it seems my name has been blackened to some.
- Steve
Steve, you have nothing to apologize for. Don't let the negative comments from one guy ruin the great tournament you and Dan had.
Not playing in the finals was your decision and most of us are not upset about it. Just a few people keep harping on it like it's some big huge new thing, when in fact it's not. Many finals have not been played because it was so late. This is hardly a scandal and it's hardly the worst thing that could have happened.
Had you played the match and God forbib something terrible happened on the way home or you lost your job b/c you were late, then everyone would be saying CSI shouldn't have let you and Dan play. Don't second guess you decision. We back you up on what was the right thing to do.
There are good learning experiences coming from the tourney and some good advice for CSI for future events. In the meantime, let's you and I both try (and others) to ignore the few negative posts and the inflated negative opinions.
You made the right decision. Congrat's again to you and Dan!
