Images courtesy of the World Series of Poker
I was watching the $10,000 GGMillion$ the other night on the almost-live stream, with the call by Stapes and the almost live Randy Lew, when this now infamous hand occurred.
Facing a raise with only 22 players left, Ricky Landais looked down at AK, which you should never do because it’s one of the best starting hands in Texas Hold’em. Nevertheless, he put his 10 big blind stack in the middle, all-in.
It was folded back to the original raiser, Bobby James, who called. The cards were turned, like my wife’s preferred form of Pai-Gow, face-up, revealing that Landais’ AK was way ahead of James’ A9.
Then the dealer put out the flop, 6-K-5-4, with 3 diamonds and FOUR CARDS! If you’re playing at home, that’s one more than optimal.
At first, I thought maybe the livestream had switched to showing another game called Short Deck, Long Flop, but it quickly became apparent that this was still No Limit Hold’em and the dealer had made a grievous error.
To make matters worse, Landais, who was already way ahead preflop with the superior kicker, had made top pair on this quadruple board bomb flop.
There was a lot of consternation at the table, and appropriately, the floor was called over. A complicated situation to be sure, but don’t worry, injustice was swift.
The floorman briefly took a poll of the uninvolved players, one of whom produced the lone moment of levity by saying, “Wait, you’re asking us?”
This prompted the floor to call the ceiling, who applied the rule from the Official Rules of the WSOP that addresses this very situation. It states that in the event of a four-flop, the four cards are to be shuffled, and then, before they are turned over, the floor should remove one at random. This rando will then be considered the burn card before the turn.
These steps were taken, and the new flop was 6-5-4, the king having been pulled. Landais remained ahead for his tournament life, but the turn was the 8♥, giving James a gutshot straight draw and Landais congestive heart failure.
Commentator Randy Lew delivered the understatement of the century by saying, “This is a sweat.”
As you probably know, the river was a 7, completing James’ 9-high straight and ending Landais’ run with only 21 players remaining between him, the $1.1 million first prize, and the bracelet.
Stapes remarked, “This is one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.”
Which is saying a lot because Stapes has seen more poker than Perry Green, runner-up to Stu Ungar in the 1981 Main Event, and who, just the other day, came in sixth in the $1500 Omaha Hi-Lo at the age of ninety. Hats off, sir.
But, to paraphrase Snoop, back to the lecture on hands…
Shuffle Up and Steal
So, everything was supposedly by the rules, and yet it made all those watching the hand angry on behalf of Ricky Landais, who got screwed by this dealer’s mistake. But Stapes was correct; mistakes do happen, like season 4 of Fargo, so we should try and be forgiving, right? Wrong, because now a new accusation has arisen that, if true, would magnify this mistake to the level of criminal negligence, considering how badly Landais was robbed.
According to YouTube vlogger, philthebeast, Landais is now saying that he’s 90% sure that the dealer burned another card before fourth street, even though the already exposed king was designated the turn burn.
Even his opponent, who benefited, Bobby James, is saying that he thinks this was the case. If this is true, then the turn would have been extremely unlikely to help James, making him dead to a nine on the river. All this to say, this version of The Ballad of Ricky/Bobby isn’t nearly as funny as the original.
As @philthebeast has called for on his vlog, the WSOP needs to do a deep dive into the tape banks at the Horseshoe/Paris and find out if the proper cards were dealt.
They should be able to see something; it only took me a week of looking through my doorbell cam footage to definitively determine that no one was stealing my newspaper, and I had just forgotten to pay the bill. The evidence is out there.
Finally, if the floor didn’t make sure that the rest of the hand went by the book after that janky start, then Landais, who, upon losing, graciously stood up, shouldered his backpack, and staggered away from the table, certainly deserves some restitution.
In Other News….
Marty Supremely Annoying
Martin Kabrhel was playing in the $600 PLO when he took his antics to a new decibel. Check it out:
Flopping a pair of threes and a wrap-around straight draw, but being well behind one of his two opponents, Marty screamed, “Not like that!” He called for low cards, and one came on the river, giving him a six-high straight and proving that the poker gods are real… real funny.
Marty began his over-the-top celebration, only to be informed that one of his opponents had made a higher straight. The WSOP can never ban headphones and ear pods, as is being discussed, unless they also ban Khabrel, Kassouf, and any other player whose name begins with the funny K-sound and won’t shut the F up.
Astonishing Feats of Dazzling Bravery at the WSOP
That old chestnut, “All you need is a chip and chair,” was proven true this past week at the Paris when Naoya Kihara won Event #17 – $10,000 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw, after going all in except for one chip intentionally left behind, as is now the fashion near pay jumps.
He turned that chip into quite a pay jump, winning $428,923 for first place, just as Tree Top Strauss did in the Paul Bunyan-like legend of the 1982 Main Event. Strauss’ chip behind was more like a chip underneath, as it was revealed under a napkin after he “busted.”
He went on to win the bracelet, and an expression of hope, near and dear to every poker player, was born.
As amazing as Kihara’s achievement was, an almost equally astounding feat occurred in the $25,000 NLH Heads Up Event. In the round of 16, Daniel Negreanu built a huge 10-1 chip lead over his opponent, Baio Ding. But I’d be burying the lead if I didn’t say Daniel went on to lose.
DNegs was off to a great start when his AQ out-flopped Ding’s AK for a million-chip pot. Sidebar: GTO Wizard does say that getting incredibly lucky is the correct play 100% of the time.
Then, with QJ on a jack high board, Daniel played some small ball, betting one big blind on the flop and turn, keeping Ding’s range and forehead wide.
A big bet on the river to take it down was called by Deng with second pair, and it was all Negreanu all the time.
Until time ran out…
After a couple of double-ups put him within shooting distance, Ding called Daniel’s all-in with just the A9 of spades, also known as the prettiest card in the deck and a nine. DNegs turned over AQ, putting Ding at risk.
The board through fourth street brought no help, but a nine on the river dealt a huge blow to Daniel’s stack. His AQ, having earlier beaten Biao’s AK, turnabout was fair play.
Turnabout was also a movie starring the late actor Peter Greene, Zed from Pulp Fiction. This was only appropriate, as Ding got medieval on Daniel’s ass to win his second bracelet.
See You in Las Vegas, Maybe
I haven’t made it to Vegas yet. I’ll be there the week of June 14th, so if you spot me, please feel free to say hello. Unless I’m at the payout cage, in which case, keep it moving. I haven’t won many tournaments, and I’ve only final tabled a few of significance, but I’ve found that the bigger the payout, the more likely there will be someone there chatting me up, trying to borrow a piece.
One time when I actually did come in first was in a $335 NLH tournament at the 2010 Legends of Poker at The Bicycle Casino. After I took my winner’s photo behind the winning hand, pocket kings, and a stack of chips, but before going to the cage, I was approached by none other than Paul “Eskimo” Clark.
He congratulated me on winning the first prize of $48,763 and asked if I had seen him on the World Poker Tour. I said I had. Was this accolade supposed to be some sort of collateral for the loan he then requested?
I’ve been in show business a long time. We all throw our credits around from time to time. Hollywood is full of desperation, but it’s got nothing on Hollywood Park.
Have a great week!
