Pro poker star Martin Kabrhel is being investigated amid claims he cheated during a World Series of Poker event which forced entrants to pay a $250,000 buy-in.
Footage shows Kabrhel, 40, get called out by fellow poker star Dan Smith after he was eliminated on June 18.
Smith, who placed sixth, acknowledges other players at the table by saying his goodbyes when he leaves Kabrhel hanging in the wind.
“Your antics are the worst of anyone I’ve ever played with,” Smith says to Kabrhel after being eliminated by him with a pair of sixes.
“Good luck most of you. I hope you get barred (banned),” Smith directs to Kabrhel.
Kabrhel finished third and took home a $2.3 million prize from the Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’em event, which was dubbed the “biggest buy-in of the summer” and started with a record 69 entrants.
The awkward moment went viral on social media after other professional players came to Smith’s defense — some claiming Kabrhel has a history of “marking cards.”
“Dan is 100% right. Martin should be banned. He has a history of repeatedly marking cards to try to cheat and everyone in the high roller community knows it…,” fuming poker player Hayley Hanna tweeted.
“Not only that but Martin makes the experience unpleasant by being rude, yelling in peoples ears nonstop, taking full time when he knows he’s folding, standing over people to “see their stack” when he’s clearly trying to angle,” she continues.
Andrew Robl, a professional poker player out of Michigan, also called out Kabrhel — saying he’s seen him “mark cards in every tournament” he’s played him in.
“He makes any tournament no fun for anyone and on top of it I’ve seen him mark cards in every tournament I’ve ever played with him,” he tweeted.
Marking cards is a cheating method used in card games, where a player alters cards so that they know what their opponent is holding.
World Series of Poker took heed to the heated incident on video and later issued a statement in regards to the matter.
“While we do not discuss specific security protocols used to monitor players and gaming equipment, the integrity of the game remains paramount and we can assure fellow patrons that we are taking these allegations very seriously,” WSOP said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “As this is an ongoing investigation, there is no further comment on the matter at this time.”
Kabrhel defended himself in a series of tweets, saying he was “shocked” over the cheating allegations.
The 40-year-old also noted he’s taking legal action against Smith and Kobl and other players who allege cheating including Chance Kornuth and Justin Bonomo, citing defamation.
“On behalf of yesterday situation I feel necessary to speak up,” he tweeted. “@Andrew_Robl yesterday posted on twitter an accusation that I’m marking cards and cheating in poker tournaments. I was shocked by how quickly people took it as true, pure statement with no evidence and started media blizzard in which I am portrayed as cheater.
Kabrhel, the Czech Republic veteran who has two bracelets from World Series of Poker Europe tournaments, has a total live earnings of $11,703,313.
His payout from Sunday was his second-biggest ever, according to Bleacher Report.