How Poker Players Rebel

In many people’s minds, poker is presented as a sedentary and sedate game, where everyone involved just sits around, turning chips, and their faces make up the famous poker-face. But the reality is different. Here’s a list of 9 of poker’s most glaring and shocking irregularities.

1. Phil Helmut vs…

If you review the various poker tournaments over the past two years, Phil Helmut’s irascible temper immediately comes to mind. Few people have been able to avoid insults and banter from Helmut. Lilqvist and Newman, Dragomir and Dwan, and even the dealer have suffered from Phil’s “Bully”. Although in reality, it’s not everyone he’s “pissed off”.

2. Scuffle in New Orleans

It all started when someone nicknamed “Redbeard” took a significant amount of money from another participant. The loser, frustrated by this state of affairs, decided to punish the “offender” by force and paid a “tough guy” to “restore justice”. But a funny situation ensued in the end: “The Beard” himself gave the hired muscle a good beating, and the dealer got a little too.

3. “The Wizard has been removed”.

At first glance, Antonio Esfandiari seems like a calm and cheerful guy. But in a quiet place… When the RCA was held in the Caribbean, Antonio made a bet with a rich man named Bill Perkinson that, for the next two days, he would walk the lunges. But Antonio was a bit unaware of his strength, during one of the games his legs cramped up and he “relieved himself” without getting up from the table, straight into the bottle. Of course, he was excluded from the tournament, but at least he won the bet. Well that ends well, Antonio gave all the 50 thousand dollars he had won to charity.

4. “Drunken Master” Scotty Nguyen

Most people think that alcohol and gambling should never be combined in any way. Of course, having a glass of wine or a can of beer won’t do anything bad to you, it will even do you good and calm your nerves. But just how drunk Scotty was at the HORSE final in 2008. That’s just something. Plus, during the whole game, Scotty was pouring “fuel into his tank” and… What did you think? He managed to win the tournament. We can assume he just shocked his opponents or “lady luck” turned on him. But the bottom line is that Scotty Nguyen took the gold bracelet drunk.

5. Mate in poker

When playing poker, checkmate is often heard from players. It’s understandable as emotions run high and you can’t always control your tongue when you’re playing. But sometimes there are some really blatant incidents. For example, a scolding between Eric Malina and Jamie Gold at the 2006 WSOP is an example. Eric was “fined” for that incident.

6. Uncontrolled joy

Victory should be celebrated in peace. But Hevada Khan clearly doesn’t think so. With any success, he starts dancing and jumping around like a madman. Although everyone ignores Khan’s behavior, they think to themselves that he would rather be playing online poker.

7. Slowroll doesn’t please anyone

Poker is not entertainment at all, for many players poker is real life. It’s a game of chance, because they’re gambling with their money and their skill determines whether they’ll make their fortune or lose it all. On Poker Night America, Mike Matusow found himself going head-to-head against Sean Deeb with his 55. The flop is 1055. “Mouth” bets, and his opponent doesn’t respond until after a long time. Shaun smirks, fretting. Matusow is furious:

“Slowroll is a disgusting move. Do that again and I’ll split your face open.”

8. Don’t talk!

Oddly enough, old Matusow was once again involved in this situation. Sean Sheahan was upset about a horribly played hand and allowed himself to be outraged out loud, but Mike “straightened him out”. It all turned into a verbal altercation, for which both competitors received a 10 minute penalty. Mike, however, managed to get Shaun thrown out of the tournament.

9. “Exceptional” Tony.

If Tony G is at the table, he’s bound to ‘shoot’. I mean, he’s gonna make some noise. He doesn’t care if he’s a pro or a rookie, he’s gonna shit on anybody. Only Freddy Deeb at the 2009 WSOP could retort to Tony saying, “OK, ***, if you don’t leave me alone, you’re in trouble, ***.” The heated Fredi was only appeased by an administrator.

Poker is a well-deserved game with a history of its own. And of course, not every embarrassment that has ever happened in the game is listed here. The Buffalo Bill murder, for example, is not recounted. It’s a good thing that poker isn’t as violent as it used to be. These days, participants can only inflict moral damage on each other.