Jon Aguiar vs. the WSOP: The Verbal Declarations Rule Controversy [Interview]

Poker pro Jon Aguiar took to Twitter to voice his complaints about the WSOP's new verbal declarations rule, and he was met with a surprising and controversial response. Aguiar and PokerStrategy.com coach Bryan Pellegrino spoke to PokerStrategy.com about the incident.

The World Series of Poker wouldn't be complete without a healthy dose of controversy, and less than 1 week into the series we have our first major one.

The controversy stems from rule #88 of the 2012 World Series of Poker Official Tournament Rules. Part of that rule states that players at final and feature tables have to verbally declare all of their actions:

"Participants at all bracelet event final and feature tables are required to verbalize each action in the form of "Check", "Bet" or specific amount, "Call", "Raise", or "All-In". Violators will receive a penalty in accordance with Rules 39, 102, and 103."

The rule received a minimal amount of debate upon its inception, but that debate is now in high gear after the rule was enforced at the final table of Event #5, a $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em tournament.

What happened at Event #5?

Bryan Pellegrino

We spoke to PokerStrategy.com coach Bryan 'PrimordialAA' Pellegrino, who finished the event in 2nd place, and he explained what happened from his perspective:

"I didn't know the verbal declarations rule before I was at the final table. It wasn't enforced at all while Negreanu and Vedes were still at the table, but 3 handed they started to enforce it very strictly. They were really obnoxious about it and told us to verbalize EVERY action - even checks and folds.

We asked if we could just verbalize our bets but they said 'no' and said they would start issuing penalties. The dealer verbalized loudly every time we did something, then the floorman would announce it with the microphone, AND they had commentators announcing - forcing us to do that was just ridiculous."

On Twitter, poker pro Brian Hastings (@brianchastings) stated that "The WSOP policy requiring players at final tables to verbally declare all actions is a complete joke. Totally unfair to the players. Does nothing positive and potentially pushes players away. Total abuse of power. They should be ashamed at how badly they treat the players."

While most poker pros seem to agree that the rule is bad, no one has been more outspoken about it than Jon Aguiar.

Jon Aguiar Interview

Jon Aguiar

American poker pro Jon Aguiar (@JonAguiar) finished in 3rd place of Event #5 and was outraged by the WSOP's conduct at the final table.

Jon graciously took some time from his WSOP schedule to explain the situation in an interview with PokerStrategy.com:

PokerStrategy.com: First of all, congratulations on your deep finish in Event #5. Were you aware of the verbal declarations rule before you reached the final table? Were the other players at the table?

Jon Aguiar: The table was initially told about the rule when we sat down for the first hand of the final table. The general attitude at the table was that it was silly. Daniel Negreanu opened 2 of the first few pots without announcing his action and no one said anything about it.

At certain points, players even jokingly announced "fold", but we were never formally asked to declare our actions until 3-handed play after Daniel busted. We were told they would assess penalties if we didn't oblige.

"Our chips would be bagged up and play would be suspended"

PokerStrategy.com: How did you and the other players at the table react when the WSOP tried to enforce the rule in that manner? How did the tournament directors respond?

Jon Aguiar: The 3 of us initially refused because we objected to how we were being treated. The tournament director on duty at the time said that our chips would be bagged up and play would be suspended if we didn't follow orders, so ultimately we did.

PokerStrategy.com: What are your general thoughts and concerns about the rule itself?

Jon Aguiar: The verbal declarations rule doesn't add anything to the game or the experience, it forces players who have played with a particular style for as long as they've played poker to suddenly act differently and focus on something new while at the biggest stage in poker, and it's unfair to very inexperienced or nervous players who simply prefer not to talk.

On top of that, there are obviously tons of visible and non-visible afflictions that people may have that might make talking in front of a crowded stadium extremely stressful.

The WSOP's inappropriate retweet

PokerStrategy.com: You went on Twitter and expressed your concerns to the WSOP. Their response was to retweet a comment calling you a "complete bitch." What was your reaction to seeing that?

Jon Aguiar: Over the past 14 months, Seth Palansky has repeatedly used the @WSOP twitter account to attack, harass, and slander members of the poker world that he believes interfere with the WSOP taking as much of the players' money as they can get away with.

I was actually not very surprised that he would stoop low enough as to retweet the thoughts of a twitter troll with no followers just to take a shot at me. My anger lies in the fact that my friends, family, and co-workers visited WSOP.com and saw that tweet visible (as well as another needle from @WSOPTD himself) when their intention when visiting the site was to see how I had done competing for my first gold bracelet.

I find this behavior totally reprehensible and expect there to be serious consequences for Seth and to a lesser extent Jack. I believe that any self-respecting major brand would fire Seth immediately given the situation.

The infamous retweet

PokerStrategy.com: Is there anything else you would like to say to the WSOP or to the other poker players who reach final tables this year?

Jon Aguiar: Fight for your rights! They can't do this to us - we put up all the buy-ins and are the ones playing for life-changing amounts of money. The bracelets and television shows they put on to grow their brand don't benefit us at all. If the verbal declarations rule is not removed from the rules, I think they will at the very least never penalize anyone for not listening to them after this. They may threaten people with penalties, but they're terrible bluffers!

PokerStrategy.com: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, and good luck at the tables!

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