When poker first started to emerge from its shady, underground origins in the 1960's, a professional player was, in truth, a professional hustler. First WSOP champion, the legendary Johnny Moss was a legendary cheat setting up bent games all over Texas in the hope of catching innocent (and honest) "Marks".
Over the years poker expanded and rules were introduced to protect players, TV and the internet sent the game to every corner of the world and newcomers felt entitled to be protected from the dodgy practices of old. However, some players will always push the rules to their limits in an attempt to gain an advantage over their more naive opponents.
A "Moody" in old-fashioned poker parlance is a pretense or a piece of play-acting intended to fool an unwary player into making a mistake. All players employ these tactics to some extent, but when they are overplayed accusations of cheating can be laid and the game becomes incredibly slow and boring for players not involved in a pot.
Last night in the Mid Month Madness, one player took approximately 5 minutes to call an all-in on the river with the nuts. He explained that he thought his opponent was bluffing and wanted to put him through as much stress as possible. Later on, the victim of this shocking Moody took an inordinate time to call an all-in preflop with aces in the hope of catching players behind. This beauty was copied by another player soon after, showing that once one player starts stretching the rules others soon follow.
Unfortunately, all three of these players reached the final table and two of them were amongst the major cashers. In poker, as in life, dishonest and dodgy practionioners often thrive. Instead of lauding the achievements of chancers, we should condemn them. If Irish society had acted thus in the last few years we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now.