I’m not going to add fuel to the fire here but I just wanted to sum it up in case anyone missed it:
Terrence Chan plays in the Playboy mansion charity tournament and makes the final three
The TD and event organizers decide that instead of paying extra rental on the mansion and for the staff that they’re going alter the rules so that blinds go up based on hands (not time) and that at a certain point they will end the tournament and award prizes based on chip counts.
Final three is Shannon Elizabeth, Steve Dannenmann, and Terrence.
Shannon Elizabeth allegedly tells Steve Dannenmann to fold every hand and they’ll split up 1st and 2nd.
Annie Duke sits behind a drunken Steve Dannenmann and coaches him to fold every hand.
Terrence finishes third when the TD calls the tournament over and awards based on chip count.
Terrence posts about the incident on his blog.
The shit hits the fan!
Joy Miller the organizer of the event first tries to do some damage control but then yells at Terrence for making this information public. One of her comments to Terrence: “Remember one thing, Terrence, you’re not Johnny Chan, you’re Terrence Chan.”
If you read the whole thing my take is:
1) Elizabeth was out of line if she said what she said.
2) Dannenmann can’t really be blamed for his behavior as he was reportedly drunk and even when made the offer of folding into second had to be coached to follow through on that strategy.
3) Annie Duke was out of line. One player to a hand is a well known rule and one she should be very familiar with.
Now, all of that said, Dannenmann called Terrence personally and Annie Duke emailed Terrence and apologized and admitted that she had made a lapse in judgement. Looks like all parties are attempting to work towards a fair solution now.
But it does make you wonder what this might have turned out like if Terrence Chan didn’t have a blog and a lot of readers. Joy Miller the organizer certainly would have blown him off and no doubt that Dannenmann, Duke and Elizabeth wouldn’t have even given what happened a second thought. It was only when Terrence took the risk of calling them out in public and posting their actions and words on his website did everyone all of a sudden become sensitive to how badly he’d been screwed over.