Vilma the card shark Jets LB frequents poker club Posted: Sunday June 17, 2007 10:42AM ET http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/nfl?page=2 To maintain his image, Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma says he tries to stay away from potentially troublesome situations. One of his favorite retreats? Poker in Manhattan. Every week or so, Vilma ventures into the city to play cards in a poker den, a members-only club that attracts celebrities and serious gamblers looking to avoid crowded casinos. More than a year ago, Alex Rodriguez made headlines for frequenting these establishments, where it is legal to play poker but against the law for the house to profit. Playing poker legally isn't a violation of league policy, according to NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. New York Daily News ___________________________________________________________ I would love to play a few hands with him. Wonder if he's any good? :up:
seems the media is out to get vilma, this story made him look bad. smells of a witch hunt to me for the horse racing thing.
Here is the Daily News story on he subject you posted http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2007/06/17/2007-06-17_vilma_playing_risky_hand.html
I was in that game last week... I flopped a straight to Jon's set...Then he rivered a boat on me... $12,000 down the drain.
Your welcome. When I read it I decided not to post it so nobody would complain that I was again posting a negative article. When you posted urs which was other then the Daily News one I read I said OK I was not 1st so here it is as published in the Daily News
I can't believe this is news: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2007/06/17/2007-06-17_vilma_playing_risky_hand.html Damn. Didn't see the other thread on this. I gotta learn to check that.
I knew he was bad last year but not this bad: Undersized for Mangini's 3-4 defense, Vilma made few impact plays, finishing with no sacks, no forced fumbles and one interception. He produced only 68 solo tackles, down from 143. We are wasting his talents in the 3-4.
Tedy Bruschi (whos played in the 3-4 damn near his whole career) had only 83 solo tackles as his career high. He had 54 solos last year. The 3-4 is a gap system that focuses on gang tackling, not just a middle linebacker racking up all the solo tackles. Vilma definately needs to make more impact plays and I think he will this year, but please don't get over hyped on his 2005 numbers. If you remember, our offense BLEW and our defense was on the field 75% of the time. Don't worry about the solos, he is getting to the ball just fine and is the one of the staples of this defense. One sub-par year and people are trying say he can't play..personally I believe hell be great this year.
Or, you know, beating his wife, drunk driving, getting caught with drugs or an unlicensed firearm, being near a friend who kills someone in a crowded street or bar, . . . stuff like that.
If I were a multi-millionaire and flopped a set in a cash game, I probably wouldn't be thinking about folding.
Namath was almost run out of the league for owning a bar with partners who were known gamblers. This is a tough issue for the league. The league makes a huge amount of money off of gamblers who otherwise wouldn't waste time watching games, on the other hand they have a vested interest on keeping players, team and league officials as far away from gamblers as possible so that the gamblers will feel it's not a rigged game.
Your confusing poker with Roulette,Craps Blackjack or some other game with a house edge. Poker is not the same as putting 10,000 on red and or taking the odds that the Yankees will beat the Mets or even worse, betting Football when you are a pro player. It is a skill game that does nothing to harm the integrity of the league. This is the biggest non event I have ever read. Good for him if he wants to play poker. This is not 10-20-30 years ago when poker was played in smoky backrooms with notorious gamblers that would have loved to get a pro player in their hip pocket. There are all kinds of business professionals in these games. I think it is great he plays poker, maybe someday I can bust him in a poker game because most athletes completely suck at it and love to donate to good players. Anyway, I thought I saw him in the Hard Rock in Hollywood Florida last month but was not sure, now I am. LOL why he would be caught dead in that donkfest is beyond me (because the limits were really low). Come ot think of it he was at a private table with a bunch of humongous dudes. I guess they had their own little cash game or something going.
