Is Vegas Prepared For William Kassouf?

If you have the feeling that the WSOP has been a bit too quiet so far this year, fear not, because the ego has landed – William ‘Nine High Like a Boss’ Kassouf ready to noise up Vegas with his legendary antics…

Unless you are brand new to poker, Kassouf will be high on your list of favourite/least favourite players – a boom or bust personality who has plenty of previous in the biggest poker arena of all.

It was the 2016 Main Event that brought him his first bout of fame and fortune, a 17th place finish in the Main Event worth $338,238 in a deep run littered with penalties and controversy…

His ‘speechplay’ in a hand with Stacey Matuson brought him a warning, William resorting to mime before being pulled aside for his ‘nine high like a boss’ winning bluff was deemed to be taunting.

Worse was to follow as Kassouf’s antics made him the most hated man in poker, at least among fellow Main Event players, the infamous “Check your privilege” showdown with Canada’s Griffin Benger going viral.

"You’re a bully, it’s rude, it’s mean – it’s not called speech-play, it’s called being a bad person! You should really check yourself, check your privilege!” screamed Benger, who proceeded to bust the motor-mouthed Kassouf with aces versus kings.

Kassouf can certainly play poker, of course, taking down the EPT Prague High Roller later that same year – a €532,500 ($555,619) payday – but infamy has never been far away for the Englishman.

Last year an “error of judgment” resulting in an “embarrassing incident” saw Kassouf lose his Grosvenor Poker sponsorship after being accused of pocketing someone else’s chips during a drunken evening at the roulette tables.

Well, much worse has happened in the poker world of course, but don’t be surprised if there are a few interesting headlines involving Mr Kassouf coming your way over the next couple of weeks!