Agreed, Flamed

I may have said this before but, whatever decision the Contestants make, they must be prepared to hear both sides of the decision, because if you only hear one side and ignore the other, you're not gonna be able to move on as a better person with both criticism and praise

I think players also have to realize that the viewing audience is watching the show from a completely different frame of reference - hoping to see a contestant win the quarter-million or, failing that, play the game well enough to get as much money out of the game as possible. Even though a player can justify their reasons for dealing early out of fear of getting a blue or crippling future offers with an especially disastrous round, it still remains that when a player deals particularly early, it needs to work out immaculately in the prove-out or else the player can expect to catch at least a small amount of unavoidable flak from outsiders who think that the player bailed out just as the game was getting good.

I don't think anyone here intends to disrespect one's reasons for making any decision during the game. Just that optimally played games, especially recently, have been at a premium, and there's a disappointment associated in watching someone fail to unlock their game's potential - like a Deal made two rounds too soon.

But it is absolutely not the player's responsibility to provide entertainment to the viewers -- that responsibility lies completely with the people paid to work on the show.

It's interesting that people who 'fail to unlock their game's potential' by going on too far don't seem to get much flak. (Good thing too.)