Yeah, Soyuz, you make a good point. I too was appalled at how and why he acted that way with Raymer. He said he did that becasue Raymer kept raising him. That's poker, and if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. It was very obvious that Raymer got to Mike and he exploded because he couldn't take it. I haven't seen him act that bad with anyone else and I guess that's why I tried to defend him a little. I expect that Mike will always be "The Mouth" in that he'll always be cocky and obnoxious at the table, and that I can overlook. I just chalk it up to his style and enjoy the show so long as he doesn't get out of line. I agree that there should be an element of class in the game, and Mike showed absolutely no class when playing with Raymer. I think he probably knows that and that's why he tried to appologize to Raymer afterwards. It was definitely too little too late, and if I were Raymer, I wouldn't have shook his hand either. Mike was way out of line, but I'm hoping that he knows that and that he'll show more class in the future. I usually enjoy watching him play and I like to see him win, even if he is a prick.
Because of how he acted with Raymer, it makes it hard to defend him, but I try to look at his playy in whole. I've seen him in games where he wasn't a total ass, and I prefer to dwell on those, rather than the ones where he took his nickname too far. As far as table control, with Raymer, yes he did have trouble controlling himself, but I think it started as him trying to get into Raymer's head and when he couldn't he lost it. In that situation, it wasn't an act, but I think in general his big mouth is just that, an act. He is by no means a "master" of needling, but that does seem to be his gameplan. Like I said before, I don't know him personally so I wouldn't presume to say that I am right, it's only my opinion.