It has been a fun week in the poker world. That period after the World Series of Poker where everyone sinks into a mild depression is over and major live tournament is back. The World Poker Tour Legends of Poker and European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Events are running right now, but things really kicked into high gear last week with the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller Event. Popular WSOP analyst and accomplished poker pro Olivier livb112Busquet won the tournament, but it was a side show that has stolen the attention.

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Busquet (pictured following his EPT Barcelona Super High Roller victory) defeated his good friend and 2014 WSOP Big One for One Drop winner, Daniel Colman, heads-up in the High Roller event. Even if they had not made it that far, though, they would have been easy to spot, as they made the rare fashion statement in a world not exactly know for haut couture. Both wore white t-shirts at the final table, Busquet’s reading “SAVE GAZA,” and Colman’s adorned with the words, “FREE PALESTINE,” referring to the ongoing violent conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The final table was streamed live (or semi-live with a short delay) on the internet, so thousands of poker fans from around the world saw the shirts and many expressed their displeasure with the political statements that were made. The controversy was not lost on the broadcast team, who more than once mentioned that the statements being made by the players were theirs alone and did not necessarily reflect the opinions the European Poker Tour or PokerStars (the title sponsor of the EPT).

In the days since the tournament, the discussion of the wardrobe choices by Busquet and Colman has not died down. The day after the final table, pokerfuse.com issued a brief statement from PokerStars Head of Corporate Communications Eric Hollresier to various media outlets about the issue. It read, “In retrospect it was a mistake to allow them entry. Our tournaments are designed to promote poker and poker competition and not as a platform for political statements.”

“Players have many channels to express their views on world politics, but our tournaments are not an appropriate place. We will refuse entry to any player displaying political statements of any kind.”

The poker community is split on the topic. Some are firmly in the “wear whatever you want” camp, feeling that since the players are putting up their own money to compete, nobody should be able to tell them how to dress themselves. Others feel that politics has no place in poker, that allowing shirts like those worn by Busquet and Colman could lead to a slippery slope of having to permit things that are universally offensive.

To illustrate some of the opinions on the matter, I will refer to some of the more public posts made by people in the poker media world. Robbie Strazynski, founder Cardplayer Lifestyle poker blog, is decidedly against making political statements at the poker table. In a piece titled, There’s No Room for Politics in Poker, he wrote that while he is on the pro-Israel side of the political debate (he lives in Israel), he would have taken issue with the shirts no matter what side they represented. He clarified his stance as so:

There’s an absolutely critical distinction that must be made between a what a poker player ought to be able to do during the actual competition (playing at the table) vs. the same poker player giving an interview before or after the competition or while play is on a break. I’d have no issue whatsoever with Bousquet and/or Colman using time they’d been allotted by an interviewer to make their views public (unless, of course, it becomes prohibited by a future rule). It might not be relevant to the questions they’d be being asked during an interview, but it’s then up to them to actively utilize the opportunity to speak out.

He added that the best solution would be for tournament organizers to simply institute a dress code and prohibit political statements at the tables.

On the flip side of the argument is Nolan Dalla (pictured), longtime Media Director for the WSOP. On his website, he wrote an article titled, Political Censorship Has No Place in Poker. He wrote:

Here’s some advice — if you don’t like what you see, then turn away. If you don’t like the message or the person, then don’t talk to them. But I certainly don’t want a giant corporation or some low-level tournament official making a decision as to what’s either political or offensive, particularly in a game with so many different kinds of people from so many nations around the world. Let people wear what they want — we don’t need censorship.

He added that it could get sticky if political statements are banned, but poker players want to advertise their support for the legalization of online poker, something with which nobody at a poker tournament would ever take issue. Would a shirt supporting the Poker Players Alliance really be disallowed? He concluded:

Frankly, we need more politics — just about everywhere. We need more discussion about problems and possible solutions. Not during poker hands, mind you. But politics is every bit as appropriate as table chatter about a sporting event or a bad date that went wrong. And there’s no way any misguided ruling is going to stop open dialogue between players. Language and thought shouldn’t be guarded by anyone, let alone a corporation, and what appears on a t-shirt should be the last thing the organizers of a poker tournament should be interested in. There are other things to worry about.

And then there is Daniel Negreanu (pictured), sponsored by PokerStars and the subject of controversy himself when he ignited a Twitter argument in July when he expressed that he was “100% pro-Israel.” On his blog at FullContactPoker.com, he took a middle ground, suggesting the following solution:

I strongly believe that there should be two sets of rules in terms of the rigidness of what is allowed and what is not. One for televised events, and another for non-televised events. For non-televised I’m pretty much OK with someone wearing anything they want, whether it be offensive or not. Of course, a line has to be drawn somewhere, and I’m not sure exactly where that line is, but I’d leave that up to the discretion of the organizers.

In the case of a televised event, things get a bit more tricky. If I were hosting a poker show that will air across the world, I would like it to be as Switzerland as possible. I’d love for the viewing audience to focus on the characters, the poker, the fun, and the excitement rather than being distracted by what they may view as an offensive political message.

This issue snuck up on the poker world. Players have certainly made political statements in the past, but this time it was two high profile players on a very visible stage making statements about an extremely divisive issue. Valid opinions exist on both sides; it should be interesting to see what direction the debate takes in the weeks to come.