Watch the Dealer Miscount that led to Dario Sammartino’s Protest
The 2019 WSOP Main Event is nearing its conclusion. One of the most memorable and controversial moments happened with only 11 people left in the tournament.
Dario Sammartino opened up Pocket Tens from UTG+1. Nick Marchington shoved pocket Q’s from the small blind. Sammartino asked for a count. So far, nothing is out of the ordinary.
The dealer announced that Marchington’s stack is 17.2 million. Dario Sammartino put a stack of chips in the middle, indicating a call.
However, other players at the table noticed that the dealer miscounted Marchington’s stack. It was actually 5 million chips more, 22.2 million.
When the cards were turned over, Sammartino was understandably upset. Eventually, the floor was called over.
The Controversial Ruling in the WSOP Main Event
The entire drama dragged out for almost 15 minutes. The whole debacle aired on ESPN during the most watched poker event on TV each year.
Dario Sammartino’s action wasn’t void. The floor people cited the so-called “accepted action rule”. Regardless of what the dealer states the amount is, it’s the player’s responsibility to make sure they know what the actual amount is. The action stands even with miscounted chips.
The rules are very straightforward. However, players are upset about something else.
Jack Effel’s Comments
Eventually, even WSOP vice president Jack Effel was called to the table.
The visibly irritated Effel was very stern with Dario Sammartino, making it very clear that he has no chance of getting any other ruling.
However, as he was walking away from the table he said “if you’re calling 17, you’re calling 22”.
Many in the poker community felt those words were out of line. They also think it was ignorant in terms of poker strategy.
Jack Effel’s comments seem to imply that that extra 5 million chips (6.25 BB’s on that level) make no difference when it comes to calling or folding.
Reactions from the poker pros
Many pros, including Liv Boeree, voiced their disapproval of how the WSOP VP handled the situation.
WTF I can’t believe he said that – his dealer made an enormous error but ok shit happens and the ruling stands. But to then make such an inflammatory, subjective (& false!) claim instead of just apologising for the error is horrific. Kudos to Dario for handling it so well.
— Liv Boeree (@Liv_Boeree) July 14, 2019
On the other hand, others, like Justin Bonomo point out that Dario Sammartino only objected to the ruling after the cards were shown down and saw he was behind by a lot.
100% agree. The floor made the ruling. 8 seconds went by (yes, I replayed it) during which Dario nodded his head in agreement with the ruling. The cards were then tabled. Only after that did he object
— Bonologic (@JustinBonomo) July 13, 2019
Joe Ingram dissected the controversy in depth in a recent video on his popular YouTube channel.
Twitch Poker streamer Andreas Froehli also made a video on the ruling, where he tries to point out, why he believes that it was the only possible decision:
Further controversial rulings at the WSOP Main Event
On Day 5 of the 2012 WSOP Main Event, Hungarian poker pro Andras Koroknai mucked his hand out of turn after shoving all-in. He didn’t realize the French Gaelle Baumann had opened under the gun.
The floor ruled that Koroknai had to pay Bauman’s initial 60,000-chip bet.
Many believed at the time that the correct decision would have been to hold him to his all-in bet, then award the pot to Baumann since Koroknai forfeited the pot by mucking.
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