Jack Effel Faces Backlash Over WSOP Ruling

WSOP Vice President Jack Effel has found himself at the centre of a Twitter maelstrom following his controversial comments aimed at Dario Sammartino during a tense ruling in the Main Event on Friday

Effel’s parting shot in the tweeted clip above was seen by many as a rude and unnecessary jibe at Sammartino, with Liv Boeree among those who found his demeanour and language unbefitting of his role as the final arbiter on all WSOP disputes…

For those who missed the run-up to Effel’s intervention, the Main Event was down to just 11 players chasing the $10million first prize, and Italian pro Sammartino was facing an all-in, reraise shove from England’s Nick Marchington.

Sammartino asked for a count, but was given the wrong information – the dealer stating ‘17million’ rather than the actual bet of 22million chips – and called off the Englishman’s shove.

When he realised it was actually a 27.5 big blinds shove rather than 21.5BB’s, he asked for a ruling, and that’s where things went somewhat awry.

The initial ruling – that he had to call off the extra chips despite the dealer mistake – was correct, and to begin with seemed to be accepted by the Italian.

When the cards were tabled however, Sammartino kicked off upon seeing his pocket tens were facing Marchington’s queens – something many on Twitter were also unhappy about.

 Three floor rulings later, enter Jack Effel, and he was adamant that the ‘accepted action’ rule in place at the WSOP meant there was no avoiding the consequences for Sammartino.

“It doesn’t matter, you can’t talk your way out of it…”, Effel stated over Sammartino’s protests, ending with: “Let’s roll, you’re calling 17, you’re calling 22”.

And that last phrase is where we came in, Effel’s dismissive attitude causing all the subsequent arguments and discussions…

Sammartino lost the hand, but still managed to make it through to the final table, though now one of the shorter stacks at the table led by runaway chip leader Hossein Ensan.

The players return today for the second of what is expected to be three days of action to decide the destination of poker’s most coveted prize, the Main Event gold bracelet, and the $10million top prize.