'Texas Mike' Moncek is back in the headlines today after a clip of him moving all-in blind in a hand during the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em event at the WSOP went viral – and drew the ire of some in the replies.
As you can see in the video below, Moncek moved all-in on the very first hand he's dealt, without looking at his cards. Dario Sammartino called next to act with 
and Brandon Sheils found 
. Moncek flipped over his cards to see 
and it's off to the races.
With nearly four starting stacks in the middle, the 
runout improved Moncek to a straight to scoop the majority of the chips.
And then he walked away from the table to return to his in-play stack in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
If you check the replies to the post linked above, you'll see plenty of criticism of Moncek's approach — a style he's employed throughout the summer.
"Not sure why WSOP promotes this behavior. There's nothing about this that is good for the game, drives interest, or encourages more attendance," reads one reply.
"This is what happens with unlimited rebuys. It's no longer a game of luck and skill, but who has the deepest pockets to click buttons until they get lucky," another wrote. "It's so much harder for the recreational to win now because the deck is literally stacked against them."
And those were the more civilized responses.
Good for pros, bad for recs
There aren't many tournaments on the World Series of Poker schedule that allow for unlimited re-entry, but several that permit capped re-entry. In the events that do allow for either option, you are all but guaranteed to see a crop of professional players firing multiple bullets to try and build a big stack.
For Moncek in particular, health issues prevent him from spending hours at the table, making late registration an attractive proposition.
However, for the recreational players on the other side of the equation, it can be a disheartening experience.
Sure, it's +EV to get it in with a super-strong hand against someone who's all-in blind. But it makes a tournament that could be a bucket-list item for a recreational player, seem like a circus act. And it creates the impression that you're not exactly playing on a level playing field.
Rules are rules, though, and it's difficult to blame pros for taking advantage of them.
Daniel Negreanu has often said that he doesn't like unlimited re-entries but will take advantage of them while they're there.
With operators chasing ever-larger field sizes and prize pools, that seems unlikely to change anytime soon.
