Tournament Director
Who wins the pot & why?
D
uring the Barcelona EPT Roland De Wolfe and Tobias Reinkemeier got involved in a pot
when they were both on the blinds. Following action on all streets Tobais check-called an 80,000 bet from Roland. Roland said’ king high’ and flashed a king. Tobias sat and waited for Roland to show his second card. Roland did not turn over both his cards but instead pushed them over the line and towards the muck. They went into the muck but the dealer retrieved them and turned them both over. There is no doubt that the two cards were Roland’s. Tobais jumped up and turned over Queen high (Q-6) claiming that Roland had mucked and the pot was his. The hand can be viewed online at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr2agX80ZyE
How do you rule? Thomas Kremser:
This is my most discussed decision in my career and I wish I would have a video documentation like this more often. Obviously I had to make my ruling without this video but having seen it I would still make the same decision.
Roland wanted to muck his hand and he actually mucked it by pushing his cards face down into the muck. Tobias did nothing wrong technically as he was asking Roland to show his second card, but he refused. Ethically I don’t like Tobias reaction after he won the pot but technically he was the last player with live cards. Players have to take responsibility for their actions and Roland never made a valid showdown by showing two live cards.
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This is the fourth edition of the Hendon Mob’s ‘Ask the Tournament Director’. Joining Matt Savage, Thomas Kremser and Jack Effel are three new contributors. They are Aviation Club de France’s Nicolas Fraioli, Tab Duchateau from Borgata and Dave Simpson from DTD in Nottingham.
Matt Savage:
Here is the long version I think that Roland was in the wrong here and should have shown his hand when Tobias asked to see it. Roland also knows better than to stall, and try and muck his hand himself as it is the dealer’s job. I do
not think Tobias was that bad but his etiquette certainly was wrong. There are not a handful of players I can name in the world that I think even consider trying to win a pot in this manner.
To the ruling itself, Thomas Kremser and I have the utmost respect for each other and I consider myself lucky to know him and work in this profession in the same level as him but I would have ruled differently for the following reasons.
1. I want the best hand to win called pots whenever possible.
2. His cards were both retrievable and identifiable. If the dealer had simply killed his hand without seeing the other card then his hand would have been dead and I would have awarded you the pot.
3. As Tournament Directors we are asked to make million dollar decisions on the spot every tournament and not even I realized this for a couple hours but the fact that you asked to see his hand makes him have to show his hand and if it beats you than you lose your claim to the pot.
There is some talk out there that TK had to rule that way because of a house rule or use of a betting/muck line and if that is the case then I would have had to rule in Tobias’ favour.
Jack Effel:
Roland made an error by not showing both of his cards during the showdown; however, all bets were called and the best hand should always win the pot as long as all called hands are turned face up.
Poker Europa | DECEMBER 2010 |
www.PokerEuropaOnline.com
That said, because Roland’s cards were turned face up, regardless that it was the dealer who did so, Roland should have been awarded the pot.
Nicolas Fraioll:
To get the pot a player should show his two cards. When Roland De Wolfe, after showing only a king, voluntary decided to put it (his cards) into the muck thinking that he was losing. But the dealer blocked his hand and instantly
Tobias Reinkemeier shows both of his cards with a Queen and a 6 high.
The dealer turned over Roland’s cards which has the best hand. If I was sure those cards were Roland’s I would definitively have given him the pot. If there was any doubt about his hand I would tell him that he should have showed both of his cards to win the pot. But in that case there is no doubt about his hand. And I would tell Tobias that’s not a good way to act playing poker and win a pot.
Dave Simpson:
Flashing the king does not denote a hand has been tabled and therefore cards speak. Once the cards have touched the muck the hand is dead and therefore irretrievable regardless of who
subsequently turns them over.
Tobias, who check called, is entitled to wait his turn to turn his cards over.
Tab Duchateau:
Probably the toughest of all the rulings in this series, and a ruling that could go either way. I watched the video of this hand and made the following assessments: Roland clearly exposed one card, a King, but did not
show the other. He also stated that he had a King to Tobias over and over, and if I’m correct in
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