Home / Poker News February 2014 / Are Duhamel and Merson Good Ambassadors?
Are Duhamel and Merson Good Ambassadors?
Posted by: Mark Baldwing - Tue, 2014-02-11 10:57
A couple of days ago we featured a piece around Joe Hachem’s rant regarding the way recent WSOP Main Event champions have handled the obligations which – according to many – came with the title and the massive financial windfall. While the main targets of Hachem’s rant were Jerry Yang and Jamie Gold, two arguably disappointing champions indeed, the Australian has actually had a few words for the young kids who play poker these days, who are about as entertaining as watching paint dry and just about as marketable to TV audiences. Obviously, Main Event champions Greg Merson and Jonathan Duhamel are both “young guns” as well, so theoretically, they too are among those targeted by Hachem’s rant.
Duhamel however earned something of an honorable mention: Hachem said the French Canadian was his favorite
WSOP Main Event champion after him, and that he was a good poker ambassador. Obviously, if one is to judge ambassadorship by post-Championship success, Duhamel has to be up there with the very best of them. After all, since Carlos Mortensen, there hasn’t been a champion to be more successful in the wake of his win than him.
Duhamel however got picked up by
PokerStars immediately after his win, which allowed him to play in pretty much every major event world-over. He did exactly that, and while at it, he never shied away from an interview, taking every opportunity indeed to forward the case of poker.
In comparison to Duhamel, Merson may not look like much of an ambassador, but that’s only a question of one’s point of view. He used poker to work his way out of addiction and into the spotlight for good. If that’s not a feel-good poker story, there isn’t one. As he is right now, Merson himself is a walking poster promoting the game, without logging any serious accomplishments at the green felt.
Sign up to PokerStars and win your way into the 2014 WSOP Main Event. It may be your first step towards the poker limelight.
