Shaniac takes on Negreanu in rebuy debate

Shaniac defends the rebuy events of the World Series of Poker.

When Daniel Negreanu talks, people listen - and sometimes they even respond.

In a recent PokerListings interview, Negreanu waxed ecstatic about the recently released 2009 WSOP schedule's lack of rebuy events because he felt that everyone should have an equal chance to win a bracelet.

With rebuy events, he said, professional players' bankrolls give them the edge. "I'm all too willing to spend, but I know it is an unfair advantage and I'd rather not have it. I am more than willing to put what's best for poker ahead of what's best for me."

Negreanu also said in a post on his Web site, Full Contact Poker, that the inclusion of rebuy events had been a "mistake" and that "what is happening this year is simply fixing that mistake."

Three days later well-known pro Shane "Shaniac" Schleger responded on his blog, You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure. In his Feb. 7 post, Schleger said that rebuy events are indeed great value for professional players, but not because of the bankroll considerations cited by the PokerStars pro.

In his post Schleger took issue with the particulars of Negreanu's logic for supporting the elimination of rebuy tournaments, characterizing Kid Poker's statements about the good of the game as "empty," and with the WSOP management for not providing an official explanation of why the traditional rebuy events had been eliminated.

"I wish I knew what they were thinking, but they didn't give an official reason as far as I know," Shaniac told PokerListings in a conversation Friday.

"There have been murmurs that the reason for eliminating the rebuys is cheating or collusion, but that has never been presented to the public. In fact, nothing besides Negreanu's statements [has] been put forth as reasons."

"While I think Daniel is passionate about poker and has helped the game tremendously over time, it's not a stretch to say that he is a bit out of touch with the mass of poker players. It's certainly quite clear that his priorities are different.

"That's fine, except he still comes off like he's 'telling it like it is' or doing 'what's best for poker' when his statements regarding rebuys are not really logical or straightforward."

"Sometimes they just get it wrong"

"It certainly does feel like messing with tradition," Schleger said. "The fact that Daniel doesn't even acknowledge that it's a tradition and acts like 'we're finally righting a wrong' is intellectually patronizing."

But Schleger has plenty of reasons for wanting to keep the rebuy tournaments that have nothing to do with tradition.

He pointed out that rebuy events are a completely different kind of tournament than a freezeout of the same game, since a significant portion of the field is eliminated by the time the rebuys are over, and the stacks are deeper at that point than they would be on the same level of a freezeout.

Then there's the matter of what the players want. Negreanu might be happy about the change, but Shaniac said there are plenty of others who aren't.

"I think the thing that bothers most people about the elimination of rebuys is that it doesn't represent the wants or desires of most tournament players," he said. "I think you should ask Billy Baxter if he cares whether the $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw is rebuy or not."

In both his blog post and the interview, Schleger noted that the choice of playing a rebuy event without spending a load of cash has always been an option, and that some players even prefer to play this way. "Sometimes they win," wrote Schleger. "Michael Chu snapped off the rebuy in 2007 on 'one bullet.'"

"To me, the bothersome thing has to do with the fact that rebuy tournaments are such a vital and complex form of tournament poker," Schleger said.

"Anyone with a distaste for rebuys can wait for tomorrow's event at the WSOP, so even if it does represent the wants of a small section of players, there is no reason to make any concessions to that group."

For now it doesn't look as though there will be any changes, but if recent history has demonstrated anything about the WSOP, it's that even last-minute changes are always possible.

With that and other positive developments from the last few years in mind, Schleger said that he's generally pleased with what he's seen at the Rio since 2005.

"Overall I give Harrah's high marks on the way they've handled the WSOP," he said. "In my observation they have done a great job of bringing in all sorts of players. I assume they try to do things in a way that align[s] the players' and customers' interests with their own. Sometimes they just get it wrong."

Related Article: Rebuys bad, Hellmuth worse: Negreanu