Saturday, July 16, 2016 6:21 PM Local Time
William Kassouf Bluffs, Takes a Penalty
There's more than 600,000 in the pot as the river card arrives on a board. William Kassouf (pictured above) is heads up and out of position, and he moves all in with his big stack. That puts the decision on Stacy Matuson, who has 490,000 chips left in front of her.
While Matuson deliberates, the cameras gather around, and Kassouf starts chatting. "You don't want to be eliminated in front of the whole camera crew, do you? The whole world?" By this time, a watchful floorman has arrived, and he gives Kassouf a verbal warning about his conversation. Kassouf, however, doesn't stop. He continues to offer bits of conversation, including things like "lay it down" and "don't go broke in this hand."
Now Matuson is getting upset, and she pleads with the floorman for some help. "How is his hand still live?" she asks.
The floorman repeats his warning to Kassouf and explains that he and Kassouf will "have a discussion" after the hand. Kassouf continues to peck, though, and the floorman has had enough. "If you say one more word before the hand is over, I'm going to give you a penalty."
"I'll handle this one," Tournament Director Jack Effel says, suddenly stepping into place behind Kassouf.
Kassouf is not done trying, though. He complies with the order to remain quiet, but he mimes and gestures and waves his hands at Matuson while she thinks. He zips his lips with his fingers, then plays charades with "You show, I'll show," acting it out several times. Effel now issues him another verbal warning.
"How about a clock?" someone at the table asks. "We want to play, too."
Matuson is not happy with the time limit imposed on her, and she lets the clock tick all the way down to zero before open-mucking .
Kassouf, on the other hand, acts pleased with himself. "Do you want to see it? Do you?" Matuson nods. "Double gutter and I missed," Kassouf says, showing . "Nine-high like a boss! Big heart. Big heart of a lion."
Kassouf is quickly pulled aside by Jack Effel, who issues him a one-orbit penalty for taunting.
"How dare you call the clock on me?" Matuson says as she stands up to gather herself for a moment.
Kassouf has a lot of chips, but they're still in an uncountable pile in front of his vacant seat -- call it 4,000,000 for now. Matuson, on the other hand, does not have a lot of chips left after surrendering that big pot.
Stacy Matuson - 490,000 (16 bb)