Brazilian star Rafael Caiaffa has been disqualified from the Latin American Poker Tour's (LAPT) BSOP Millions series being held in São Paulo, Brazil, after being caught adding in a second starting chip stack that he had received in error and failed to return to a dealer or floorperson.
Caiaffa, of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, erroneously received duplicate stacks after late-registering in Event #30 of the Brazilian Series of Poker stop, R$ 5,000 Mystery Knockout. Caiaffa first received one 100,000 stack from a floor, then received a second 100,000 stack from the dealer when he took his seat at a table.
Caiaffa was the only player who accidentally received two starting stacks at separate times, despite an initial report from a Brazilian poker outlet that other players also received extra chips. Caiaffa, after his original starting stack had dwindled to 10,000, was transferred to a new table and chose that moment to ring in (in poker parlance) the extra 100,000 in chips. Unfortunately for Caiaffa, he was observed in having a suddenly healthy stack by another BSOP participant, Eduardo Silva, who brought the matter to the attention of tournament directors.
Caiaffa banned from series, more penalties possible
After reviewing footage, LAPT/BSOP staff determined that Caiaffa had indeed added the extra 100,000 in chips, and he was not only disqualified from the event, but was barred from participating in any tourney in the series, which runs through November 29. MundoPoker received a brief statement from BSOP Tournament Director Devanir Campos, which when translated to English reads as follows:
“A player violated some clauses in the regulations and, because of that, suffered the sanctions that are provided for in the regulations. The tournament management understood that the infraction was serious enough for him to be immediately excluded from the competition and he was preventively and provisionally suspended from participating in any tournament.
“After the event ends, an internal committee of ours will meet to see the type and length of suspension he will suffer, whether it will be temporary or permanent.”
Caiaffa won online bracelet in 2022
Caiaffa won a BSOP PLO title in 2015, but he is most widely known in poker circles for having won a WSOP bracelet in a 2022 Online International tournament, along with two WSOP Circuit rings at an International stop in São Paulo in October of 2016.
The Brazilian star has also sought to have many of his tournament results removed from online databases. He does not appear at in the world's largest poker-results database, The Hendon Mob (THM), which removes a player's records upon request. His win in the 2022 online event hosted by GGPoker is credited to "Unknown Player" (with a Brazilian flag), similar to a few hundred other players whose identities are now hidden on THM.
The World Series of Poker also removes some players' results upon request, but they are reluctant to do in instances of bracelet wins and other large cashes. All players acknowledge the WSOP's right to publicity upon entering an event or creating a WSOP account, and the WSOP also shies away from hiding large payouts due to AML (anti money laundering) concerns. Therefore, Caiaffa's WSOP results remain public. Hendon Mob removal notwithstanding, Caiaffa's results can be found in other databases as well.
Featured image source: BSOP (Luis Bertazini)
