Shut yer piehole!

To the best of my knowledge, we have just had the first enforcement of the WSOP's new "excessive celebration" rule. As reported about 20 minutes ago by Don Peters at www.pokernews.com, from the ladies event:

"They call me the firecracker."

We've just had our first penalty issued for the tournament. Heidi "The
Firecracker" Muhamed eliminated a player and taunted her as she exited the room.
She then received a warning from the tournament staff.

After another win, Muhamed burst out again in celebration. This time, the
tournament staff was quick to issue her a one-round penalty. "The Firecracker"
just got back into play and has 5,200 in chips. She asked one of our reporters
for a piece of tape to put over her mouth. Another outburst will issue her
another penalty. A third penalty will get her kicked out of the
tournament.

Three cheers for the tournament staff. Other than outright cheating, ain't much lower in poker (or any other game or sport for that matter) than taunting an opponent you have just beaten. What is so hard about just sitting there quietly and raking in the chips? What is wrong with people that that does not provide sufficient satisfaction? If you get pleasure from kicking somebody when he or she is down, there is something seriously disturbed about you. A poker tournament penalty won't come anywhere close to fixing your deep-seated personality disorder, but it's all we can do.