A big hand went down recently at The Lodge during the final table of the WPT Prime $1,100 Main Event in Texas, with five players left.
Esther ‘E-Tay’ Taylor raised, and it folded around to chip leader Harvey Castro in the big blind.
He said, ‘Nine million.’
What? Nine milllllllion dollars? What did you just say?
There was a lot of controversy in what he said, because he definitely said ONLY those two words: Nine million.
In tournament poker, verbal declarations like ‘nine million’ can be interpreted as a bet amount. Without context, such a phrase can cause confusion or even accusations of angling.
After a little bit of hesitancy, Castro clarified by saying, ‘Are you playing nine million?’
Watch the full clip here:
Player opinion polarized
The situation sparked a big debate in poker world. But ultimately, it's up to the tournament director to assess the player's intent and make an informed ruling.
Remember a couple of weeks ago when I asked, “Do you really want to be a tournament director?”
Well, imagine you’re the one in charge here. What decision would you make? Then scroll through the comments on that tweet and see how many start with the word obviously.
“Obviously, he was angling.”
“Obviously, he should be forced to raise.”
Esther Taylor plays with integrity
What happens when we don't have a live stream to review, or we don’t have a world-class pro like E-Tay involved in the hand?
E-Tay did the right thing. She hesitated briefly, avoided committing to action, and waited for clarification. Once she got it, the hand proceeded smoothly.
But a lot of times, a player will react to what an opponent said. They’ll put their chips in, flip their cards up, and assume what the person meant from their own interpretation of the situation.
Now, as a tournament director, you have to do what I call TD triage. I call it that because somebody is going to be upset, no matter what you do.
If E-Tay puts her chips in and flips her cards up, I'm in a challenging situation. I have to figure out if he said something that should be construed as just ‘nine million,’ or if she flipped her hand over too quickly, and Castro would now get to act having seen her cards.
What should a tournament director do?
What you have to do is try to figure out what the fairest thing is to do in this particular situation.
What should happen if a player uses words that have very specific meanings but is not using them with that meaning in mind?
There are situations, like when I was running tournaments in Cyprus, where people don't speak the same language. People are saying things like, ‘Should I call? Should I fold? Should I raise?’ The other person isn't super familiar with the language, but they do know those words, and they react to them.
The moral of the story is to be very careful with what you say at the table. Use your words wisely — you never know who you’re going to be up against.
If you're saying words that have specific poker meanings without the intention of using them with that meaning, you might find yourself in a spot like Harvey did at the Lodge.
You might end up getting held to the specific meaning even though it's the exact opposite of what you were trying to do.
Want to test your rules knowledge? Got a tricky ruling you’d like my take on? Drop it in the comments — I’ll feature the best ones in future columns.
Justin Hammer is the Live Events Director for PokerAtlas, online Tournament Director for the Texas-based poker app Hijack, and a Tournament Director for Thunder Valley Casino Resort. He also brings his expertise as a consultant and minority owner of Desert Bluffs Casino in Kennewick, Washington. With years of experience across live, online, and casino operations, Justin has established himself as a trusted leader in the poker world.
For more info visit PokerAtlas.com, HijackPoker.com, and bluffs.poker. Follow Justin on X.
