Former Poker Champion Laments Tournament

Joe Hachem, the 2005 World Series of Poker champion, said he had lost respect for a new brand of aggressive players who seemed to want to gamble all their chips on every hand in the main event.

Hachem said after two hours of poker on Monday that the pace had not slowed at the no-limit Texas Hold ’em tournament in Las Vegas because many players were willing to risk their tournament with mediocre hands. Play started with 185 players, and 38 were eliminated in two hours, despite starting with many chips relative to minimum bets. Hachem said the overaggressive style was disrespectful to the tournament.