Black Friday Chronicles: Twitter Reactions
One year ago, the poker industry was taken by storm — an extremely dark storm. News of the Black Friday indictment spread like wildfire on April 15, 2011, and players were using social media, specifically Twitter, to discuss the events of poker's darkest day. Some of the most notable players in the game expressed their emotions via the popular social media outlet, including Vanessa Selbst, Phil Galfond, Randy Lew and Jeff Madsen. Even the most well-known poker player of all time — Doyle Brunson — had something to say.
The magnitude of the situation became clear when mainstream media began to report the news. ESPN is widely regarded as the forefront authority in sports, and it aired a small segment on the indictment and shutdown of the online poker sites. Then, the following tweet from the ESPN Poker Twitter account sparked many reactions from players.
According to @GamblingComp, all the indicted sites, around the world, will be down within 48 hours. #gg
— Andrew Feldman (@ESPN_Poker)
When something big happens in poker — and Black Friday could easily be regarded as the biggest thing to ever hit poker — many players and fans reach out to notable authorities within the community in hopes of getting more information on what's happening.
Oftentimes, these "notable authorities" are the more well-known players in the industry. Being so very well known in the industry, Vanessa Selbst was overwhelmed with messages and made sure to let everyone know that she knew just as much as they did at the time. She also did what she could to remind everyone to stay calm and point them in the right direction to attempt to help the situation.
Sorry everyone who is messaging me, I don't have any more info than anyone else. I will let you all know when I know anything else.
— Vanessa Selbst (@VanessaSelbst)
Freaking out will not help!We need2get online poker legalized NOW.The past is the past,let's look to the future http://www.tweetforpoker.com
— Vanessa Selbst (@VanessaSelbst)
Mike "Timex" McDonald alluded to the poker player's propensity to blow things out of proportion, but noted that he was part of that group on April 15, 2011.
Every few months people think the sky is falling in online poker. For the first time ever I'm one of them. WTF
— Mike McDonald (@MikeMcDonald89)
Others, such as Steve O'Dwyer, Justin "Boosted J" Smith, Jonathan Aguiar, Brandon Adams, Christian Harder and Jason Senti were all in the same boat of gloom. Here's what they offered on Twitter.
The mayans were only 18 months off predicting the end of the world, pretty impressive
— Jonathan Aguiar (@JonAguiar)
WOW... You can't reg for tourneys, sit at a cash game, or transfer $ on pokerstars...Dear god......
— Christian Harder (@realcharder30)
Well, on the day I sent the US gov't a LOT of money to finish up 2010 taxes, they shut down my income stream. #tyUSDOJandIRS
— Jason Senti (@PBJaxx)
There were those who decided to try and make light of the situation at hand, and others tried to be as positive as possible. A few did what they could to poke fun at the issue, but we all know there was still some deep, true meaning behind their comedic reactions.
...Whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen. All we can do is try to voice our support for online poker, and then wait and see.
— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond)
hmm...might need to consider buying from the value menu again at McDonalds if things don't work so well
— Randy Lew (@nanonoko)
Pretty excited I ran out of excuses not to hang out with my family on Sundays. (now that online poker and ftball are gone) #mayanswereright?
— Matt Waxman (@Matthew_Waxman)
Jeff Madsen took the glass-is-half-full approach.
I think one thing is abundantly clear at this point... TIME TO HAVE A SICK WORLD SERIES
— Jeff Madsen (@JeffMadsenobv)
Even the Godfather himself, chimed in, although he was more so calling the online players to the live realm.
Now maybe we will see if these online "superstars" can play real poker. Ante up suckers!
— Doyle Brunson (@TexDolly)
As more information was revealed in the weeks following Black Friday, more and more reactions poured in. One can certainly look at the Twitter reactions from poker players as a whole and make the conclusion that the players felt the significance of that day, and continue to feel it a year later.
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*Lead image made at Tagxedo.com
