Amateur player Brian Smith has taken to X after a controversial hand played out deep in the $300 Gladiators of Poker event at the 2024 WSOP, which saw him 'shorted’ several million chips. There were 28 players left from the huge starting field of 20,647 when the incident occurred, in a pot involving Smith (UTG), Steve Foutty (button), and Men Nguyen (BB).
Smith was short and shoved for his last 4,525,000 with 
. Foutty raised to 10M with 
and Nguyen re-shoved on the big blind for 25.25M with 
.
According to an update on WSOP.com, Foutty asked, “How much is it?” to which Nguyen replied, “I don’t care.” Foutty made the call.
The 
runout gave Smith the full triple-up with a pair of fives. Smith, who had been talking excitedly through the hand, took off and celebrated with the rail.
Video footage of hand and aftermath emerges
Videos from the hand and the immediate aftermath were subsequently posted on X by another player. In the first, you can see the hand play out, before Smith starts to celebrate after the river.
In the second video, Smith gets up to celebrate with the rail, and Nguyen starts to pull his chips back.
Talking on X, Smith recounted what happened next.
“The dealer pushes 10.525m my way. Now at minimum, 4.525 *3 is 13.575, plus the ante and SB of 1m and 500k respectively is 15.075m. WSOP rules we will continue final three table redraw and play while they review footage.
“Then they pause clock for 15 mins and the senior director gives me 2m. Still short 3m. How is it that in 2024, we can’t get this stuff right with all the tech at our fingertips? The dealer acknowledged there was an error.”
According to @TiltedTay, who posted the videos, the extra two million chips Smith was awarded came equally from Nguyen and Foutty’s stacks.
Norman Chad responds to Smith
One player replied to Smith, saying he shouldn’t have gone to the rail and that “sometimes we have to self-police," something Smith himself acknowledged.
However, Norman Chad, long-time WSOP commentator, was quick to respond and disagree with that assessment of the situation.
Smith followed on by saying, “[It] Was hard for me to compose myself and get my head on straight following the situation. Other players and spectators acknowledged how poorly this was handled. I’d love for someone with a little clout to comment on the matter.”
Smith busted in 26th place for $16,770 shortly afterwards. Nguyen busted in 19th for the same payout.
Many players have since responded to the situation on X.
Players react to controversy
Five-time bracelet winner Scott Seiver didn’t pull any punches, saying, “He should be barred from every casino in America.”
Smith thanked him directly, saying, “Thank you Scott I agree. We all know what happened. The fact the floor could not resolve the issue is egregious given all the tech at our fingertips.”
Joseph Cheong said the way the hand went down was “very shocking” and said the floor had to take some of the blame. Others agreed, with one player asking why cameras are there if they’re not used in incidents like this.
Here’s a selection of other player comments on the incident.
Feelings are running hot, with many reactions on X unsuitable to publish. And it seems clear that this is a controversy that isn’t going to go away.
What’s also clear is that players should never pull stacks back when all-in, before the dealer has finished sorting the pot. PokerOrg has reached out to the WSOP for comment.
Stephen Winters went on to win the Gladiators of Poker event for $401,210.
