The 2025 WSOP is in the rearview mirror, but while it was undoubtedly one of the best in poker history, there were plenty of unsavory talking points.
In part one of our conversation looking back at the summer with the ever-outspoken Daniel Negreanu, we look at stalling — players taking too long to make a decision. Will Kassouf might have been the worst and most visible offender, but he wasn’t the biggest name accused of it over the summer.
What does Negreanu think, and what's the solution?
'So angle shooting is the norm, really?'
Stalling was a big issue at this summer’s WSOP once again. What's your take on the issue?
Okay, so first and foremost, it's very important to be clear. You can make poker plays where you try to deceive your opponent, you bluff, you bet, and you value bet. Stalling is not a poker play. It has nothing to do with the game, which means it is, by definition, an angle shoot.
If you choose to do it, you are shooting an angle. But people say they have to do everything to maximize their profit. Okay. Then what about cheating? What if I see my opponent's card in the big blind and don't say anything? What if the dealer pushes me too many chips and I don't correct them? Oh, I maximize my profit. I have to do everything.
What Ike Haxton did by stalling during the Main Event is an example of a high-stakes pro who is unequivocally angle-shooting. The fact that he told the table, ‘Hey, guys, you can call the clock on me if you want,’ is irrelevant. Everyone at the table is incentivized not to call the clock too, right?
Can you explain why that’s the case?
Let’s take an extreme example where there are 10 tables, right? There are nine tables with players who are not aware that at one table, they’ve just stopped playing.
Those tables are continuing to play and play and play, while the players at the other table are just sucking the equity out like cancerous vultures, taking money from everybody else. It's angle shooting, and it needs to be seen that way.
Just because people say, ‘It’s the norm now.’ So, angle shooting is the norm? Really? Then you get to choose whether or not you want to be one of those people.
What do you think the solution is? An action clock?
Ultimately, the utopian idea would be a chess clock that I think we will get to eventually, technology-wise. But a shot clock helps. And, by the way, I’m not calling it a f*****g action clock, just because Matt Savage wants us to call it an action clock. F**k him and the f*****g action clock (laughs). It’s a shot clock. That’s better. Action clock my ass.
I think the shot clock helps. But it's not perfect because it unfairly affects players like me. I don't waste any time before the flop. I get nothing. I just fold it, fold it, fold it. Sometimes on the river, though, I’ve got a tough spot, and I need 2-3 minutes to make this decision.
Now I've conserved a bunch of time overall. Even if I take three minutes for a river decision, I'm still taking less than the guy who takes 30 seconds to check the flop, 30 seconds to call, and 30 seconds each time he does anything.
However, with the shot clock, I have the same amount of time. He's spent three times as much time as I have, but I have the same rules as he does when it comes to making a big decision. I think players should be rewarded for playing quickly.
'The rules are clearly there'
What was your take on the chaos around Will Kassouf’s constant stalling and chatter during the Main Event?
That’s another example where the written rules exist. As I said, what Haxton did there with stalling is breaking a rule: players must act within a reasonable amount of time.
The rules are clearly there, but enforcing them is difficult when you have players like Kassouf. I would like to see people like that put on an incredibly short leash. It is what it is — you've earned it.
I have no empathy for that behavior. I have no soft spot for it. At times when Kassouf was saying this spot is a really big decision, I get it.
But you know the story about the boy who cried wolf, right? It’s like that. Eventually, when you need help, you don't get it. You've been full-of-shit tanking for six minutes with nine high. We all see that. No, you get no grace at all.
I would give him The Breakfast Club treatment. Say one more word, that's another round penalty. Say another word, that's another round. Say another, and you'll be dealt out of the hand.
What about when his hand was killed by the floor for getting up to walk toward a player to see their stack?
You can't get up out of your seat in the middle of a hand. You can’t go over to where a guy is at. I mean, just ask how many chips they have. It's one of those things where I think the player in question (Will Kassouf) matters. He gets no grace.
I would literally say to him, 'If you want to play on these terms, you can't say a word other than raise, bet, fold, or bet amount. Not a single word. You can't say, hello. You can't say, how are you? You’ve lost all your rights because you are unable to function in such a way that doesn't disrupt the game.'
Stay tuned for Part Two, where Negreanu weighs in on table talk etiquette, reveals his choice for the biggest highlight of the WSOP, and claps back at Phil Hellmuth’s claim that Michael Mizrachi, not Shaun Deeb, deserved the Player of the Year award.
