Maurice Hawkins won his 18th World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) ring at the Baltimore stop this week, but a misread hand that knocked out Divyam Satyarthi in third place has kicked up a big cloud of controversy in the wake of the record-tying victory.
Satyarthi, who had to settle for $64,458 for the third-place finish, had the pot-winning flush when the dealer pushed it to Hawkins and his wheel straight. The debate has since captivated the Pokerverse — fueled in part by the controversial nature of Hawkins and with questions centered on the ethical and moral obligations of those who observe the tournament, especially the media.
Both sides of the story
Hawkins hopped on a jet after the win to get to the Chicago-Hammond WSOP Circuit stop, where PokerOrg Live Reporter Liam Gannon caught up with him on a break. Meanwhile, we got in touch with Satyarthi for both sides of the story.
"In the moment, I thought there was a mistake immediately," Satyarthi said. "When the dealer said 'straight' I thought I had misread the board and that the straight had won."
A pair of tens was no good in Satyarthi's mind, so he wished everyone well and went to the payout line. "It wasn’t until a few hours later, when someone sent me the video and pictures, that I realized my flush had completed."
Hawkins, who needed a non-club five to win the hand with a straight, celebrated when the 
fell on the river. "I was just focused on what I needed to win. I'm not looking at his cards. From my point of view, it looked like he had a 10 with a black queen and when the dealer grabbed it — I wear glasses, too, so I wasn't certain of what it was — but I assumed the dealer knew what it was and awarded the pot correctly."
Hawkins reviewed the tape
The mistake went unnoticed by everyone until later when the video of the hand was reviewed. "I did go and ask to look at the footage," Hawkins said.
PokerOrg reporters confirmed that Hawkins asked for and reviewed the hand. Hawkins realized the pot was awarded incorrectly, but it was sometime later. "And at that point I went to the floor director and told him, 'Yo, y'all awarded the wrong pot'. And he stated to me that it is the player's obligation to make sure that he was awarded his pot if it was his hand." According to the floor staff, there was nothing anyone could do at that point.
It all happened very fast, says Satyarthi. "Typically, some dealers lift and display the board cards that are in play. In this case, there were a lot of things happening at once, and it felt like everything unfolded in a split second."
"There was no floor at the table," Hawkins said. "It was just us three and the dealer and that was it. There was nobody there."
No floor staff can be seen on the video in the immediate area around the table. The dealer calls for a payout before a tournament director appears to respond in the background and begins walking toward the Main Event tournament area.
'Protect your equity'
"I think the primary responsibility falls on myself," Satyarthi admits. "As a player, I had a responsibility to double-check my hand."
At the same time, Satyarthi says, dealers and floor staff are generally expected to ensure that all-in hands are properly tabled to prevent these kinds of mistakes. "When I voiced that I had won the hand, and the dealer corrected me, and the floor didn't say anything — I was confused and thought they had intervened. So, regardless of what I think, the dealer did intervene. He just did it incorrectly."
"Half the time at final tables there's no floor," Hawkins says. "So, I mean, I think it's one of those things where that's what the dealer is for and that's what the players are for. But if you are in a pot, it's probably a good idea to protect your equity and look and pay attention."
Satyarthi thinks that either of the two remaining players would speak up if they noticed — in an ideal world. "However, in this specific case, the two remaining players had a strong incentive for me to bust, so I don't know if either would speak."
