Peters Crippled, But Benefits From Dealer Error

First into the pot from the cutoff seat, David Peters opened the pot to 6,300. Next door, Vesa Leikos three-bet to 16,400, and the table folded back around to Peters. At this point, he had just about 140,000 chips left in front of him, a fact which would come into play later on. He shoved in, and Leikos made the call for his last 115,600 total.

Showdown
Peters: {8-Spades} {8-Diamonds}
Leikos: {Q-Clubs} {Q-Diamonds}

The board ran out {9-Clubs} {3-Diamonds} {7-Diamonds} {9-Diamonds} {4-Spades} , and Leikos had found his double.

Well, almost. Here's where things got interesting. Peters pulled back his original 6,300-chip raise while the dealer counted down Leikos' stack. When she did, she arrived at the number 99,200, forgetting to include the extra 16,400 that was standing separately on the felt. Peters paid off that 99,200, and the dealer pushed the pot to Leikos. Everything except the 16,400 that was still orphaned in the middle of the table. Instead, she slid those chips back in to Peters' stack as he was stacking back up, and it appears that neither player realized the mistake.

It ends up being a 32,800-chip swing for both players, certainly a significant amount.

There's a lesson in there for players who are inexperienced in live tournament poker: always make sure.