Gossip Column: #MeToo Campaign Enters Poker World, Twitter War on Racism & More

Gossip Column
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  • PG News November 24, 2017
  • 6 Minutes Read

This is the third edition of our Gossip Column this month! So what is it? Don’t let the silence fool you into thinking that poker people have been on their best behavior since our last edition; it’s just that the controversies were too scandalous to print even here! Ok, let’s be serious now, these stories come from the same world of men, who willingly donate for charity, stand by friends, but then, they are not apart from all other breeds of men.

We start with the tales of the #MeToo campaign that have even entered poker world as two ladies blew the whistle blaming and shaming a couple of so-called “men”. Then we move to the story of how one tweet led to a major war of words on social media involving racism. We also bring you the story of a feud between Doug Polk and Matt Berkey and last but not the least, we have a picture of Joe Barton’s penis doing the rounds on social media.

Get all the dirt about these crazies in this edition of our gossip column and do remember to have a stiff drink handy, every time you shake your head in disbelief!

 

James Woods Accused of Sexual Abuse; Negreanu Bursts on Twitter After Emily Perkins Blows Whistle

Unless you have been living under a rock, you would have heard about the #MeToo campaign that has taken social media by storm. The world has been shaken with the stories of sexual misconduct with a number of horrible tales blaming and shaming famous personalities. Numerous Hollywood performers and executives have already been outed as alleged sexual predators, including movie mogul and producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Kevin Spacey, and comedian Louis CK.

It was no surprise when poker world revealed the disgraceful or rather inhuman behavior. Semi-retired actor and poker regular James Woods was named last week after actress Emily Perkins called him out as an abuser. Perkins was one of several hundred people participating in a #MeToo march in Hollywood on Sunday (November 19), and she carried a sign naming and shaming the outspoken poker-playing actor.

Emily Perkins
Emily Perkins

 

All this led to a twitter war between Canadian poker superstar Daniel Negreanu and Woods that even included threats of physical confrontation.

Woods was publicly silent after Perkins’ claim, but spoke after Negreanu called the star of the hit 1990s flick “Casino” a “hot piece of garbage,” and referred to Woods as “quite a scumbag” for a “pattern of dating teens as an old creepy dude.”

Former Poker After Dark Host in #MeToo scandal

The gossip doesn`t end at Woods as another scandal broke out involving former Poker After Dark hostess Leeann Tweeden, who was allegedly abused by a Minnesota Senator Al Franken.

Tweeden wrote on KABC.com, where she works as a radio host, sharing two assaults that date back to 2006 involving the Democratic United States Senator (Franken).

Tweeden wrote about the horrible incidents that happened in December 2006, when Tweeden and Franken, who was a comedian back then, were on a USO Tour in the Middle East to entertain the troops.

Franken told Tweeden that he wrote a skit that involved them kissing and later the Minnesota Senator pressed behind the stage for a rehearsal kiss where Tweeden categorically states, “he put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.”

That’s not all, as Tweeden alleged that she learnt about the second assault only once she returned back to the US and looked through photographs of the trip. Amongst them was one where she fell asleep on the cargo plane on the flight home, and someone (still unknown) had photographed Franken feeling her breasts over her Kevlar jacket.

Tweeden wrote, “I felt disgusted and violated. How dare anybody grab my breasts and think it’s funny.”

Franken later apologized to Tweeden, and the former poker host has since accepted his apology. But we ask, can an apology fill up for the disgusting acts?

Poker Twitterati Engages Rapper’s Accusations of ‘Racism’

On November 18, what seemed like a simple tweet about music, even when you don’t understand the lyrics, led to a Twitter storm that saw Talib Kweli take a stab at the poker community and the pros lashed back. It’s all about racism folks but some conversations should be implied with some logic at least, right?

Poker pro Dan O’Brien tried to keep things from getting out of control and even apologized for the emotional nature of his initial tweet. But the rage from both sides was unstoppable.

Then, Justin Bonomo stepped in and even defined racism for those unaware –

And then female pro Vanessa Selbst got involved and it got even messier just to put it lightly.

Finally, Matt Glantz put things in perspective.


Feud Between Doug Polk and Matt Berkey

There were no ends to feuds as something kept happening somewhere in the poker world. And as usual, poker pro and YouTuber Doug Polk made a video about it.

Polk recently got the YouTube Silver Button and this time, he wasn`t just a sideline reporter on this one.

It all started when Polk complained about the trend of players canceling their appearance in high-stakes games at the last minute, leaving promoters and hosts with a promised live stream in the lurk. Polk makes some very valid points that players often fly in for these games at their own expense. In addition, viewers of the free and paid streams are repeatedly disappointed and this could lead to loss of future viewership. Lastly, he mentioned that a lot is invested in hosting these games and when a player backs out, the game usually crumbles and causes inconvenience to everyone.

He then made it personal by calling out Matt Berkey as a game selector. Berkey didn`t take these accusations lying down and lashed back at Polk’s video on Joey Ingram’s Poker Life Podcast.

Matt Berkey and Doug Polk
Matt Berkey and Doug Polk

 

Berkey explained that he didn’t show up as he was short the funds to play high stakes. “I lost like $110,000 after the first two sessions of $25/$50 … which were ultimately $25/$50/$100/$200 with infinite ante. So yeah. I just didn’t have enough money to play the $200/$400. It started with a lot of business people and fun players and ended with a bunch of killers. Hey … that’s going to happen. I get it. That’s the high stakes realm. I’m happy to play in those games. It’s just another opportunity to play $200/$400 [no-limit hold’em] which is a bigger deal to me than lineup-choosing, but I’m certainly not going to play against a bunch of killers with what ultimately works out to less than 100 big blinds [session bankroll] once we throw in a big game.”

Berkey then went on to explain what he believes the the real issue is.

The overall gist came from Berkey himself when he quoted “I’m not a man who spares my fucks easily. And I just don’t have a lot to give for something so trivial.”

Not to let the supposed feud die a slow death, Polk posted his own video on Monday titled, “Feuding Poker Players Fight Over A $100,000 Pot.”

That’s not allas since Berkey wasn’t really biting, Polk came up with another angle and decided to go after the world with his latest video: “The TRUTH About How Your Country Plays Poker.”

Joe Barton’s D**k Pic Does the Rounds on Social Media

Republican Congressman Joe Barton, who is a big supporter of the legalization of online poker, has recently put on the spot. His penis shot is currently floating around the Internet prompting calls for his resignation.

Joe Barton
Joe Barton

 

Sometimes or rather all the time, it’s better to delete our homemade porn. This lesson came a little late for Barton as a photograph and a raunchy text message found its way onto the Internet. The photo of a naked Barton snapping his sexual organ appeared on the Twitter account of “Parker21333” with a text that read, “I want u so bad. Right now. Deep and hard.” The anonymous tweeter copied President Donald Trump into the tweet.

According to TMZ, the person who posted the photograph also suggested that he is in possession of several video clips of Barton masturbating!

After the tweet went viral, 68-year-old Barton told Texas Tribune that he had clicked the photo when he was separated from his second wife during a time he had ‘sexual relationships with other mature adult women.’

Despite the leak, Barton is refusing to quit, but he did tell the Texas Tribune that he is reconsidering his re-election bid.

Well, we are sure, you will not blame us, if we say; our nostrils, eyes and lips are sealed!!!

But, you do make sure to keep your eyes on the open, when we return with some more such crazy-doo, sometime soon…….

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