Poker vlogger Ryan Depaulo claims he was “scammed and robbed” out of a pot that should have been chopped during a tournament at Borgata in Atlantic City.
The former ACR Poker pro’s recent video exposes a second potential major dealer error during a tournament in the past couple of weeks. Maurice Hawkins won his 18th World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOP) ring earlier this month for $140,752. But the event is most remembered for an infamous hand in which the dealer didn’t realize the player who busted in third place — Divyam Satyarthi — went out with the best hand.
Depaulo has 117,000 YouTube subscribers, may have been the latest victim of a dealer error.
Poker Vlogger Shares Details
Depaulo, as he explained in a recent video, entered a $600 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament at Borgata that featured a $1 million guaranteed prize pool. He noticed upon registering that his starting flight already had 600 entrants. The vlogger hadn’t applied for a media pass, so his ability to film his play during the tournament was limited. But he recorded one controversial clip.
The self-proclaimed “degenerate gambler” said his stack had fallen to 40,000 with the blinds at 1,500/2,500 (2,500 big blind ante). He was seated in the big blind with J♦6♠. He called a raise and then saw a flop of Q♦7♥2♣. Both players checked the flop before the 2♠ paired the board on the turn. Two checks occurred again, and the 10♣ appeared on the river.
This time, Depaulo, figuring his opponent’s hand wasn’t strong given that he’d checked the flop and turn, over-bet the pot for 18,000. His opponent, however, hero called with J♣9♥, good for a chop. Or, so he thought.
“And now you’re about to see me get scammed and robbed of a chop pot,” Depaulo told his audience.
Depaulo then shared audio of a conversation he had with the dealer, who pushed the entire pot in the direction of his opponent. The dealer did not realize that the best five-card poker hand was actually 2x2xQxJx10x, meaning the 9x kicker didn’t play.
“Nine plays,” the dealer says.
“How does the nine play?” Depaulo asked.
“It’s no two pair on the board, it’s only one pair,” the misinformed dealer responded.
Depaulo then turned his focus to the player who called him with a weak holding, jokingly asking if he’s Robbi Jade Lew and “you call me down with jack-high.”
The vlogger then suggested his opponent “had to have misread his hand.” His opponent, however, claimed he just somehow knew jack-high was good. But the issue with this hand is that the pot, assuming Depaulo recalled the board correctly, should have been chopped.
Depaulo then asked the dealer to call the floor because he “made a mistake.” But the dealer explained to him that “it’s too late” as the table had already moved on to another hand. He then became irritated with the dealer for refusing to admit he’d made a mistake or to call the floor manager over to investigate.
A frustrated Depaulo said he wouldn’t let something like this happen again and that he’d make sure to speak up immediately. He’d double up his stack, but didn’t last much longer before busting with a min-cash.
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