Much like the rest of the world, the poker community can’t help but comment on professional golfer Tiger Woods’ recent personal problems. The world is buzzing about Woods’ car accident and various personal problems, including allegations of infidelity with at least a dozen different women. While Woods has been busy issuing public apologies to his wife, Elin Nordegren, as well as his family, the poker community has been passing the time by poking fun at his unfortunate circumstances.
Ten-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson has been leading the online conversation about Woods with round-the-clock jokes about the golfer on his Twitter feed (@TexDolly). Brunson took a break from his now infamous string of dumb blonde jokes to post a series of Tiger Woods-related barbs. “Ping just made Elin an endorsement contract for a set of drivers to be named Elin Woods… ‘Clubs you can beat Tiger with.’” Brunson, an accomplished golfer in his own right, even got into the festive holiday spirit with his most recent Tiger-related post: “Santa said, ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’…Tiger said, ‘Where, Where, Where.’”
Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel also got in on the fun via his own Twitter account (@Erik_Seidel). The accomplished poker pro, who is renowned for having one of the funniest poker-related Twitter accounts on the web, has posted a couple of Tiger Woods Tweets of his own. “Breaking News,” Seidel deadpanned on December 5th, “Las Vegas Review Journal reports rumors of a VIP hostess from Vegas who has not slept with Tiger Woods.” Other people who couldn’t resist getting in a jab or two include Howard Lederer, Alex Outhred, and “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff.
The online poker crowd got in on the fun as well. When asked to comment on the Tiger Woods scandal, Adam “akat11” Katz couldn’t help but crack a joke. “With a name like Tiger Woods, how could he not have a chick in every state and be well-endowed,” he joked with Poker News Daily.
Poker Savvy instructor Justin “jurollo” Rollo finds the Tiger jokes entertaining, but also expressed a little remorse over making fun of a man’s personal life. “I’m conflicted on the Tiger issue,” Rollo explained to Poker News Daily. “Part of me thinks he deserves the media blitz for what he did to his family, considering that he makes about 90% of his income from hawking products to the public. The other part of me feels bad for him and his family because they have to go through a terrible situation in front of cameras.”
Whether or not the media spotlight will let up on Woods any time soon is still up for debate, although it appears that the cable news networks’ obsession with the golf pro is not going to let up any time soon. Perhaps the more interesting bet will be how long Brunson will keep up with the Tiger jokes before reverting back to the dumb blonde ribs that have become a trademark for him these days.
It is his personal life, but then again he has a responsibility being the poster-boy of a sport and million dollar contracts with many businesses. It is his responsibility to not have these things happen as these companies invest billions in him.