2013 World Series of Poker

Event #45: $1,500 Ante-Only No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1
Event Info

2013 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
63
Prize
$201,399
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,500
Entries
678
Level Info
Level
27
Blinds
0 / 0
Ante
60,000

Lost in Translation

Level 5 : 0/0, 75 ante

Earlier in the day, we heard a dispute developing between Ilan Boujenah and the tournament staff, concerning his use of a foreign language at the table.

While a player speaking in a language other than English is prohibited by WSOP rules, this prohibition applies only to players involved in a hand. When a player has mucked his cards, they are technically free to use their native language if they so desire. This issue became a controversy earlier in the summer, but those in a position to do so ruled that non-English speaking is permissible when a player is not involved in the hand.

Unfortunately for Boujenah, who is a highly regarded figure on the European tournament circuit with several notable performances to his credit, a slight failure to communicate this issue may have cost him his chance to compete in today's ante-only tournament.

After being warned several times to refrain from non-English speaking at all times, even when he had already mucked his cards, Bojenah became visibly frustrated with what he believed to be an erroneous ruling. Although the issue was eventually sorted out, Bojenah had already succumbed to the tilting effects of the disagreement, losing the rest of his 10,000 stack shortly after receiving his last verbal warning.

According to Bojenah, he got it all in with {A-}{J-} on a jack-high board, but his opponent rolled over {K-}{K-} to eliminate him from the tournament.

"It's partly my fault, you know," Bojenah told us. "I didn't sleep enough last night, but if I was thinking about the hand and not the language issue, I most likely get away from it."

Despite his rough day here in the ante-only event, Bojenah still plans to spend his summer here at the WSOP, telling us that he will be playing "probably, like, all" of the remaining schedule.

Player Chips Progress
Ilan Boujenah il
Ilan Boujenah
Busted