Controversial poker pro banned from WSOP after busting Main Event

The William Kassouf Show at the World Series of Poker Main Event finally — mercifully — ended.

The controversial poker pro from England, who repeatedly clashed with players and WSOP staff for the past several days, was eliminated late Saturday from the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship in 33rd place.

After busting, Kassouf was informed by tournament director Dennis Jones he was banned for the remainder of the WSOP, which ends Wednesday, and escorted out of the Horseshoe Events Center by security.

The Main Event continued late Sunday until the final table of nine players was set. Braxton Dunaway of Texas held a commanding chip lead at the 8 p.m. dinner break with 17 players remaining from the starting field of 9,735. Las Vegas resident Adam Hendrix was in second place.

A handful of big names are still alive, including seven-time WSOP winner Michael Mizrachi and professional poker player Leo Margets of Spain. Margets would be the second woman to reach the final table of the Main Event. Barbara Enright finished fifth in 1995.

The final table starts Tuesday with $10 million for the winner. All the remaining players are guaranteed $450,000.

Kassouf is known for pushing the boundaries of table etiquette, nearly bringing a player to tears during the 2016 Main Event when he finished 17th. His speech play tactics, stalling and endless complaining wore on players, dealers, PokerGO producers and officials throughout this year’s tournament.

During Day 6, Kassouf had the clock called on him repeatedly by opponents in an effort to speed up play and was ultimately put on a 10-second shot clock for each decision. He vehemently argued with officials and anyone else who would listen that he was being singled out and treated with a different set of rules.

The situation finally erupted on Day 7, as Kassouf had the clock called on him during the first hand and believed he wasn’t given enough time by the floor supervisor to make a decision.

After arguing his case, Kassouf was ultimately given a one-round penalty for verbal abuse of an opponent. Officials threatened to disqualify him from the tournament if he continued to be disruptive.

Kassouf didn’t stop and had an animated conversation at the first break with Jack Effel, the senior vice president of poker operations and WSOP for Caesars Entertainment, as security looked on. During the second afternoon break, Kassouf and Effel had another exchange as the player pleaded his case.

Kassouf argued with players at the secondary feature table after dinner and received another one-round penalty. The end came not long after he returned to the table.

Kenny Hallaert opened with a raise, and when action got to Kassouf, the clock was called almost immediately by another player.

That set off Kassouf, who eventually put in his remaining chips with pocket sevens. Hallaert called with king-five, and the ace-jack-10 board kept Kassouf in the lead. But the king on the turn gave Hallaert the better pair, and the jack on the river sent Kassouf packing.

“Disgrace. You’re all pathetic,” Kassouf told the table. “I’ll see you next year. All of you, I’ll remember your faces. I’ll see each one of you next year. I’m going to bang you all up.”

Despite being out of the tournament, Kassouf remained at the table and continued to complain about the way he was treated. He was then serenaded by spectators with the chorus from Steam’s “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.”

Kassouf bowed to the audience before security finally led him off the PokerGO set. He earned $300,000 for his efforts.

“I’m here to play my game my way. If everyone wants to sit there in silence, say nothing, headphones, hoodies, sunglasses on, that’s their prerogative. I have no issue with that,” Kassouf said in an interview with PokerGO. “I’ve not called a clock on anyone in the whole tournament when they’ve been tanking for like three minutes preflop, four minutes postflop. I gave them respect, let them play their game. They want to call a clock on me after 10 seconds, five seconds, whatever, 20 seconds.

“I’m sitting there with 10 big blinds for my tournament life playing for $10 million and they’re calling the clock on me every five seconds.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.