There are two ways to steal money at a poker tournament: with guns, like in the recent German poker heist, or with sleight of hand, like this week in the World Series of Poker. Instead of prison, the thief now faces a humiliating lifetime ban.
In the third level of play of a $1,000 NLHE tournament, a man tried to enhance a pot by putting in extra chips from his neighbor’s stack. He was somehow detected, and left the Amazon Room with a permanent ban and no hopes of ever winning a gold bracelet. The story was first reported on Michael Craig’s Full Tilt blog.
Tournament director Jack Effel described the situation to curious players as the perpetrator was thrown out of the game. The unknown man, a gray haired person around fifty years old with a baseball cap, tried to steal chips from the player to his side while he was away. He made a clever attempt, but was spotted.
The grab happened during a hand where the thief was heads-up against another opponent. The director signaled for a 20 minute break and, thinking their stacks were safe, the players not involved in the hand got up and left. The thief won the pot and made his move while he was raking in the chips. He gathered the chips with one hand while he put his other hand on the table, appearing to support himself so that he could lean forward. The off-hand was actually on top of another players chips. As soon as he saw the dealer glance away, he swept those chips into the pot, appearing to rake them in with the rest.
It is unknown how his attempt was detected. Perhaps the player noticed the missing chips or perhaps a security camera or an observer saw the move. Regardless, the unknown player’s swipe was caught on tape and the theft was confirmed.
According to Jack Effel, “He’ll be banned from the World Series forever.”