Players Furious Over Aria’s Private Games Policy

The debate over ‘private’ poker games in ‘public’ casinos has kicked off again with Joe ‘Chicago Joey’ Ingram, Daniel Negreanu and other notables at odds on Twitter over the legality and ethics of the Aria Casino allowing some players to block those they don’t want from playing…

It’s an issue which has seen furious reactions from players in the past, most notably former WSOP Main Event champ Greg Merson…

…and earlier this week Shaun Deeb running into his own problems with getting a seat, though this time it was Florida rather than Vegas which seemed to have its own ‘closed shop’ policy…

This time round the Twitterstorm surrounding the actions, mainly of the Aria poker rooms, has seen less swearing but no less discontent - although initially Daniel Negreanu was quick to limit his dislike of the practice…

The Canadian PokerStars legend described the mechanics for those who don’t know the mysterious ways:

"Works like this: 8 guys show up same time. Start new game and have about 4 names on the list. It isn’t technically private since if a seat opens anyone can legally sit. It just doesn’t happen."

It’s not an issue which shows any signs of disappearing quickly, Aria’s Director of Poker operations Sean McCormack causing a stir by seemingly defending the practice…

…and quickly being pulled up by players who have been on the receiving end of the ‘cold shoulder’ treatment…

…with Negreanu backing them up…

McCormack, though, is a respected man in the industry and his offer to show up and put up on a podcast with Ingram may yet lead to some much-needed changes…