2013 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona

€10,300 High Roller
Day: 1
Event Info

2013 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona

Final Results
Winner
Thomas Muhlocker
Winning Hand
ak
Prize
€390,700
Event Info
Buy-in
€10,000
Prize Pool
€1,764,000
Entries
180
Level Info
Level
27
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000

Negreanu Eliminated After Dramatic Dispute Over Ruling

Level 3 : 150/300, 25 ante
Daniel Negreanu Essentially Quits the Tournament
Daniel Negreanu Essentially Quits the Tournament

Team PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu has always been known for being outspoken with his opinions and having no fear about standing up for what he believes is right. Negreanu, who was recently eliminated from play late in Level 2, continued his forthright behavior today by essentially quitting the €10,000 High Roller after a ruling was given to him that he deemed to be staunchly incorrect.

It all began when Negreanu was in the small blind. Negreanu, who had recently been talking with Philipp Gruissem at an adjacent table, had returned to his table, posted his small blind, and stood behind his chair while continuing to talk across the tournament floor. The dealer began to deal the cards and immediately mucked Negreanu's hand. When Negreanu turned his head back to the table and saw this had happened, fireworks began to fly.

"I was right there!" shouted Negreanu. "I was standing right there!"

Negreanu immediately called the floor staff over and passionately explained the situation.

"I was standing right behind my chair talking to Philipp. I was one step behind my chair. I had already posted my small blind!"

As Negreanu's tone grew more and more fervid, players around the room began popping the headphones out of their ears and standing up to see what all of the fuss was about. Eventually, the tournament director ruled that the dealer made the correct call in accordance with the rules set forth by the European Poker Tour (and also adopted by the Tournament Directors Association) and Negreanu's hand would be announced dead.

An absolutely livid Negreanu grabbed his cards and threw them face up in the middle of the table showing {K-Hearts}{10-} while continuing.

"This rule is so bad." he continued. "F*** it. I'm all in blind. Come on, next hand. Let's go. I'm all in blind."

Negreanu picked up his remaining chips in one hand and slammed them down onto the felt in front of him. By now, players had begun circling the table as they watched Negreanu prepare to fall on his sword to demonstrate how poor of a rule this was.

"These f***ing rules are so stupid they make me want to shoot myself in the face!" exclaimed Negreanu.

"That seems to be what you've just done," ribbed Scott Seiver with a grin from the next table over.

The tournament staff attempted to calm Negreanu's emotions.

"Sir," the tournament director began. "The rule states --"

"I've read the rule!" Negreanu cut him off. "I know exactly what it says! Alright, here we go. I'm all in blind. Let's do this." By now the next hand had begun and after action folded around to him, Negreanu placed his stack of what was at least 25,000 into the middle from his button. Timothy Adams, who was seated in the small blind, quietly tossed out calling chips and the big blind folded. Adams rolled over {7-Diamonds}{7-Spades}.

Negreanu squeezed out his cards and tabled the {A-Hearts}{3-Hearts}. The board ran out {2-Hearts}{2-Diamonds}{2-Clubs}{5-Spades}{J-Diamonds} and Negreanu was eliminated from play, still sternly and passionately cursing his hatred for the ruling as he left the tournament area. He took to Twitter immediately afterward.

Daniel NegreanuThe first card off the deck rule is so poorly enforced it makes me not even want to play! So absurdly anti player and customer service!
Daniel NegreanuI put my small blind in and was standing next to my chair. Dealer kills my hand immediately. So I just literally quit the tourney lol
Daniel NegreanuI was 100% aware of the rule and did NOT break the rule. It was ruled 100% incorrectly by the TD because the rule is absurdly stupid.

This has not been the first time that Negreanu has been outspoken about this rule in particular. This past summer, the TDA held a summit in Las Vegas, Nevada where they added several new rules to their charter. Among them, was the exact rule that this situation pertains to. The rule reads as follows:

"A player must be at his seat when the first card is dealt on the initial deal or he will have a dead hand. A player not then at his seat is dealt in, he may not look at his cards, and the hand is immediately killed after the initial deal. His blinds and antes are posted and if dealt the bring-in card in a stud-type game he will post the bring-in*. A player must be at his seat to call time. “At your seat” means within reach of your chair. This rule is not intended to condone players being out of their seats while involved in a hand. [*Note: In stud, house rules may require additional card(s) be dealt to the killed hand in certain situations.]"

This rule has been met with a fair amount of disdain and contempt from some of the top professionals in the game with Negreanu being the most straightforward with his comments. Negreanu's fellow Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier shared some of his thoughts about the rule in a recent blog on his website. This rule has caused such a stir in the tournament poker world that PokerNews' own Rich Ryan recently caught up with a few professional players to find out exactly what they had to say about it.

Regardless of any current comments, the rule still stands and all players are forced to abide by these rules. That being said, Negreanu has been eliminated from play and Christmas came early for table mate Adams. Despite Negreanu losing his stack and the chance at an EPT title, his dramatic action will certainly be the catalyst to spark even more conversation on the matter and may help toward bringing about the change that he desires.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Daniel Negreanu ca
Daniel Negreanu
Busted

Tags: Daniel NegreanuJason MercierTimothy Adams

Assorted Chip Counts

Level 3 : 150/300, 25 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Jose Manuel Nadal es
Jose Manuel Nadal
115,000
65,000
65,000
Profile photo of Maroun Jazzar lb
Maroun Jazzar
91,000
64,000
64,000
Profile photo of Scott Seiver us
Scott Seiver
88,000
9,500
9,500
Profile photo of Shannon Shorr us
Shannon Shorr
80,000
30,000
30,000
Profile photo of Philipp Gruissem de
Philipp Gruissem
79,000
29,000
29,000
Profile photo of Ludovic Lacay fr
Ludovic Lacay
77,000
27,000
27,000
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Chino Rheem us
Chino Rheem
76,000
12,000
12,000
Profile photo of Dan Smith us
Dan Smith
71,000
21,000
21,000
Run It Once
Profile photo of Joni Jouhkimainen fi
Joni Jouhkimainen
70,000
20,000
20,000
Run It Once
Profile photo of Andrew Chen ca
Andrew Chen
69,000
19,000
19,000
Profile photo of Sylvain Loosli fr
Sylvain Loosli
66,000
16,000
16,000
Jaka Coaching
Profile photo of Tim Reilly us
Tim Reilly
65,000
15,000
15,000
Profile photo of Steven Silverman us
Steven Silverman
60,000
10,000
10,000
Profile photo of Richard Yong my
Richard Yong
56,000
6,000
6,000
Profile photo of Marc-Andre Ladouceur ca
Marc-Andre Ladouceur
56,000
6,000
6,000
Profile photo of Dani Stern us
Dani Stern
53,000
3,000
3,000
Profile photo of David Benefield us
David Benefield
50,000
Profile photo of Griffin Benger ca
Griffin Benger
50,000
Profile photo of Bertrand Grospellier fr
Bertrand Grospellier
50,000
Profile photo of Stephen Chidwick gb
Stephen Chidwick
50,000
Profile photo of Paul Berende nl
Paul Berende
50,000
Profile photo of Salman Behbehani us
Salman Behbehani
50,000
Profile photo of Kristijonas Andrulis lt
Kristijonas Andrulis
50,000
Profile photo of Vladimir Troyanovskiy ru
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
48,000
-2,000
-2,000
Profile photo of Martin Finger de
Martin Finger
47,000
-3,000
-3,000
EPT 1X Winner

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O'Dwyer Makes the Call

Level 3 : 150/300, 25 ante

We arrived at the table to find Steve O'Dwyer pondering a bet of 11,000 on a completed board of {7-Clubs}{10-Clubs}{5-Spades}{4-Diamonds}{4-Spades}. This was about a pot-sized bet, as there was just over 11,000 scattered in the table's center. O'Dwyer thought for quite some time before tossing out a call. His opponent showed {A-Spades}{K-Hearts} for just ace-high and O'Dwyer rolled over a winning {7-Diamonds}{6-Clubs}. O'Dwyer raked in the pot and now has about 58,000 to his name.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Steve O'Dwyer ie
Steve O'Dwyer
58,000
15,000
15,000
EPT 1X Winner

Tags: Steve O'Dwyer

Level: 4

Blinds: 150/300

Ante: 25

Katchalov Fires River

Level 4 : 150/300, 25 ante

The board erad {Q-Spades}{4-Spades}{A-Hearts}{6-Diamonds} when we came upon Jose Carlos Garcia and Eugene Katchalov engaged in a heads up pot. Garcia checked and Katchalov fired out 6,000. Garcia went into the tank for about 45 seconds before calling the bet. The river was the {10-Clubs} and Garcia checked once more.

Katchalov cut out a sizable bet of 17,000 and Garcia thought for some time before letting it go. Katachlov dragged in the pot and now has about 54,000 in chips.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Eugene Katchalov ua
Eugene Katchalov
54,000
21,000
21,000

Tags: Eugene KatchalovJose Carlos Garcia

Level: 5

Blinds: 200/400

Ante: 50