Southpaw WSOP dealers: We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher!

We’re down to 14 players in the main event — Phil Ivey’s the remaining good guy, Jeff Shulman’s the bad guy, and James Akenhead’s the Brit …

On a recent hand — being broadcast on screens set up outside the ESPN poker stadium — we saw a chopped pot: A-A-4-4-5 … where both players’ Ks played as a kicker. After the applause, Robbie the on-stage TD said over the PA, “How ’bout a round of applause for these dealers. They’re working hard for you today, and are some of the best in the business!”

That may be true — but only if you’re right handed.

When WSOP dealer supervisors sent their best of the best to ESPN for TV-table dealing this year, those who happened to be left-handed were sent back. Supposedly it has something to do with their laying out the flop “backwards” … but even lefties who had trained themselves to do it like a righty were still not welcome. ESPN decision … not one worth fighting for the tourney staff’s perspective, since they did have enough righties in the mix who could handle the job of pitching cards on the feature felt.