Im shocked ! I have no idea what has gone on here but it seems a bit strange to me, If Ali was banned then that is upto the casino but if they let him start the comp in error they should have let him finish in my opinion. However I would like to touch on something , I have witnessed various displays of outrageous behavour in comps over the years including the threatening of players or dealers and my own pet hate of people standing up and shouting the worst kind of things when winning a pot very few if ANY of these examples have resulted in a ban for the offending person EVEN if the person concerned made a habit of doing it, ( being synical maybe the amount they stake on the house tables during breaks affected the decision ) I find it very hard to believe that Ali would have done anything this bad unless pushed to the limit in some way as in my opinion the man is a gentleman and a credit to the game
We must be careful here Andy, not to mix up apples & pears.
The issue of whether Ali should have been allowed to play is one thing, & has been thrashed to death on here, quite well in my view.
The issue of player behaviour is quite seperate.
First off, Ali's alleged misdemeanour was NOT in a Tournament, & while that makes it no lesser or greater an (alleged) "improper act", you are talking in your Post, if I am not mistaken, about player behaviour in Tournament Poker.
You & I have partaken in hundreds of Live Tourneys, but in the UK, neither you & I have EVER seen a player reprimanded or disqualified. Maybe once, but thats about it. Why so? Because we dont really have TD's, in the UK. To be more precise, we DO have TD's, good ones too, I'm sure, but they don't run Cardrooms. That's not a criticism of Cardroom Managers, but those guys have their hands tied to a degree, & are constrained by other considerations.
Go to Mainland Europe & it's totallly different - they empower their TD's over there to act as they see fit, & they do - one sees time penalties & disqualifications regularly, & player behaviour is so much better. In Scandinavia, where the players are pilloried & mocked for their loose play, their table manners are quite exemplary. Even America, devoid of the slightest understanding of morals, ethics or good manners (step aside for a Mad Yank intervention, eeekkkk) impose Penalties for improper behaviour at the Poker Table.
So until that's addressed, player behaviour in the UK will continue it's downhill slide.
Happy New Year Andy, let's see a bit more of you in the Venues this year, you are much missed. Well, your value is......
xx