As a current WSOP dealer this is my take. 1. They are probably using RFID cards that are thicker and very hard to mark 2. The deck is switched up every 30 min when a new dealer comes up, including RFIDs. He would have to mark both A spades or only cheat on the blue or red deck deal. 3. I can feel a fingernail imprint on a card when it comes out of my hand. If I feel one I look at the card and run my finger over the card to see if I did feel a problem. Then I move it in the light to see if the glare picks anything up. I know this dealer. If he suspected anything he would be seen messing with the cards. 4. This guy is annoying AF here, but so are other people. I had another pro use all 30 sec for every decision... when it got brought up he was open with his intention and the table said it was annoying but w/in rules. Conclusion: innocent until proven guilty

As a dealer at the Orleans in Vegas, I found lots of thumbnail-marked wheel cards, and we were the room where locals went to play structured Omaha8, where wheel cards are very valuable. Multiple floormen and even the poker room manager told me I was imagining things, told me it was probably the shuffle machines, and eventually told me to stop finding so many damaged cards. It was extremely frustrating because the poker room manager came from the pit, not from poker, and he even asked me why people would mark low cards, even though he had to know we spread more O8 than most rooms in Vegas. The idea that marked cards could go unnoticed by multiple floormen is completely plausible to me, and it's one of the reasons I didn't go back to the Orleans after the pandemic. So if you're playing O8 at Orleans... Watch out for those fingernail marks. 🤷‍♂️

This video is what sets you apart Doug. You'll rip into your own stuff when it's there to be discussed. Keep up the great things and appreciate you

Thanks for the content Doug. A very measured approach toward a player who, while I can't tell for sure if he's cheating, certainly seems willing to angle shoot, and wouldn't hesitate to use any advantage he can gain to win a hand. If I could make a small editing suggestion, whenever you cut to live footage, the volume drops dramatically, and it's difficult to hear some of the things which you're responding to in your commentary. If you could normalize that volume a little bit, it would make the videos much easier to follow in general, without having to adjust the volume or get my ears blasted when you switch back to commentary.

Bro angling people into THINKING you're cheating is a HILARIOUS angle lmfao

He's a troll. He wants people to think he's cheating to mess with their heads. It's not hard to figure this out. His plays does not indicate that he knows what cards they have at all. It's not logically consistent with cheating. He's very likely innocent. People simply want him banned because he's annoying to play against.

I think you nailed this with your breakdown!! Great job! First video of yours that I have watched!

As someone who doesn't play poker professionaly but know a bit about the psychology behind pro games. He is probably purposefully throwing people off their game by acting like he could cheat. In chess, if you know your opponent is cheating, you play differently. In poker is the same thing. Once a thought like that cripples into your mind, you lost

They were all asked/told not to stand up while in a hand. And he did it multiple times, not just standing up, leaning over, and leering at other players and their cards...all with no penalty. That should have been where the penatlies started. Some sort of discipline..sit a hand, or a round. Something

Tournament manager is 100% to blame. They should NEVER allow this nonsense to continue.

Curious if anybody thought to look at his behavior at the start of each table he was at. If he is only doing all the weird staring behavior after a few circuits and after he has handled key cards and was seen possibly marking them, that kind of leans towards some subtle form of cheating.

If I were the authorities in charge of poker I'd use some basic counter measures to make the other players a little less uncomfortable about the possibility of cheating. Things like changing the decks more often and restricting the players ability to stand and stare at other players hands. If they are building a case for the gaming commission to make formal charges then I could see them doing nothing until they are ready to strike.

I played with a guy who had a really greasy face and he kept touching his face throughout the session. I then noticed that certain cards had shiny stains on them but you can only see if it it catches the light in a certain way. So you kind of have to look at it from different angles. Standing up and trying to look at the cards from different angles based on the light looks like what he's doing.

I don’t think any player should be allowed to dig their nails into the cards, even if they are doing it as a joke. New rule: if player appears to be digging their nails into the cards, they get a 30 minute penalty. If cards can be retrieved and marks are found, they are banned.

As a magician, scoring cards is very easy to do, and the clip of him applying pressure certainly is the route we’d do to score a card

You're really getting better at this. Kudos.

Reasonable analysis from Polk. If you've played even once at a public poker table you've had to endure annoying players. It sucks, but it sucks worse if you allow it to affect your game. One would hope that an event as large and prestigious as the WSOP would be checking decks at random as well as specifically looking at decks where accusations of cheating have taken place. They did call for a special rule at the final table that players must remain seated when playing a hand (a rule which he broke early and that caused a kerfuffle and a call for the floor manager). Given all that, WSOP is investigating this incident specifically, so we'll see what they find (if anything).

OBS!!! He could have indented the card very slightly in a way that it's not very visible through the naked eye, I am familiar with this method from a magician. The trick is that It becomes much more visible if he uses the lights from above to look for reflections on the gloss from the cards, thats why he stands up, and by slowly swaying from side to side. Then you can see minute details that other players can't see.. It's only if you know to look for the reflections from the light. Try it yourself under a well lit room. I would want to inform this method to the arrangers , but I don't have the contact information. Perhaps you can take it forward, or anyone else that see's this and knows where to turn to. Please thumbs up this so it get noticed

Thanks, Doug! Always a good show!

The thumbnail made me literally lol😂 thank you Doug

Wouldn't simply keeping and analysing the deck that was in play after help to deduce if there was indeed marking of cards going on - so we can at least conclude that either A) No cheating happened or B) Cheating happened. Also if other players are confident of cheating taking place, I feel like they ought to at least raise it up softly to the floor given this is a $250K tournament.

Your analysis is always fairly weighted IMHO and you always admit when you are unsure of a situation. Add the pieces of Humor and I always run to watch your videos. Thanks and keep up the good work!

Doug, you mention grease and invisible ink. What about when Martin tries to muck and both cards stick to his fingers like he had been hanging with Dwight Howard after a Rockets loss? He has something on his fingers there, garunteed. Would also explain why, I think it was Dan, who mentioned to a dealer about marks on two of his cards, then she seemed to wipe/scrape "dirt" off them. (the stickum picking up dirt.) This sticky theory, would also explain another odd behavior by Martin, who is frequently seen playing with his cards and seemingly rubbing them into the felt reasonably firmly, as if he is trying to remove any excess sticky residue that is transferred from the back of marked cards to the face of cards being shuffled onto marked cards. I would look carefully at that spot on the felt where he sat. look for discoloration and signs of something mildly sticky being wiped into the felt and attracting dirt.

More to say when he 'marked' As he also had 4s in his hand. So you can see him cheking 4 spades in a hand with Steven at 16:14

I wouldn’t be asked back to a any home game if I acted like this

What we all witnessed was a master class in trolling

CUT TO Doug Polk ״graciously” running around the table screaming “Let’s fucking go!!!!” lol. Best video editing here

You could pretty easily handle it by adjusting the rules. This sort of thing will continue to happen in different ways with people trying to obtain edges in annoying ways. The cases need to be handled one by one. There’s the issue of the integrity of the game, but also your product, as you want to have an environment where people will want to participate.

The fact that this is a "national headline" is the only reason why WSOP is now taking it seriously.

Marking cards like that has been a thing in high stakes live poker since the 60's..

I have learned that if you don’t have any haters, you’re living life wrong.

Great stuff doug!!

That was not the take I was expecting from you, Doug. I thought you would be mercilessly making fun of this guy and his antics. This was a balanced and fair assessment that was actually very kind to Martin. I admire your range. :)

This video was an unbiased look at the issue, and quite thorough. Great video. Thanks for sharing it. One thing is for sure though...haters are gonna hate!

As a local Tournament Director, "annoying" players are everywhere, players who annoy others, play slow, weird, etc. just because players don't like them, doesn't mean they deserve to be banned.

Part of the way to cheat well is to sow some doubt. If you make clear mistakes, then people will think 'oh, he can't be cheating', but that is the whole point. If they can change the deck at my local casino on every hand dealt with one of those machines for shuffling, why can't they just change the deck every 5 or so hands for a big money tournament? It would literally take 30 secs if the pit boss or supervisor had a deck ready to go. You could even have say 20 decks in circulation, so yeah, he may mark cards, but the chances of him getting that particular deck at the right time would be very low.

K3 call makes sense if he knows 1 ace in opponents hand but doesn't know the other card, makes zero sense if he knows 2 or 0 cards.

I've spent two decades in game protection. A key question that needs to be answered... *I noticed in the highlight of the final table, Martin says he noticed a scratch on one of his cards and requests a new deck. The question is "was the deck changed? And if so, was it a spare deck in the rack? Or did they bring a new set up to the table?"*

We buy this theory, Doug. Thank you for your service

Strangely, despite my having had numerous occasions where I felt you judged others unfairly... ...I agree with your assessment here 100%. Imo, it is often the evidence inconsistent with one's theory that is (or SHOULD be) the most compelling.

I think you’re right, there is no proof of cheating. He’s always seemed like a weird and abrasive person. But there aren’t rules against being unlikable. 🤷🏻‍♂️

He should start a poker club with Robbie

At the final table, they implemented a no standing rule specifically for the possibility of marked cards.

Thanks for your objective video Doug..... great vid mate

I don't blame players for thinking this guy is cheating one bit. He's constantly looking over his shoulder and looking at players cards instead of reading players or counting chips. With the K 3 hand it looks like he sees the mark after he makes the call. watch him look back at the cards while holding the red chips and pause with them as he realizes something. then he sits down and folds the next bet. the meek way he asked for the count after just supposedly gauging the guys stack for his whole time was also odd to me in the moment, and seemed like a poor attempt to slow roll a fold. Floor really blew it not enforcing the no standing rule. Even the masseuse knew he shouldn't be doing that.

😂 that Luke Swartz bit made me spit out my beer, completely uncalled for which made it so much better

If the tournament officials aren’t going to stop people from doing this sort of thing, people are going to do it.

Regardless of whether he was cheating, the way he handled the cards lends itself to cheating. Has to be stopped. And getting into another player's space (like with Decarolis)? If Decarolis happened to stand up and "accidentally" head-butted him, would they punish him? Probably. But that couldn't happen if Kabrhel wasn't in his table space.

You could argue the "bad" play is a diversion so they can say why would I do this if I knew their cards

There is no way a player should be standing over my cards! If he wants to know how much I have he can just ask. I played in one of the WSOP tournaments last week and there were indentions on a few of the cards. I didn't think people were cheating but it's possible.

The only thing I can think of is the 30 second limit that he maxes out and maybe possibly edge sorting but I don't know about how the tournament cards are made or cut

Its apart of his bluff... others do it just not as annoyingly. Its genuisly taking advantage of the fact that once someone thinks you cheat they kinda want to not play anymore. Thus making bad decisions, or possibly taking no risks assuming the other person already knows what you have. Its a great bluff... Just cause people decide to not play that way doesn't mean everyone has to conform to what you think. It IS by definition a bluff if he is not cheating. I make bluffs and even sometimes I've don the taking a long time to bet each time, its all apart of getting in your opponents head. its apart of the game.

As usual enjoyed your video Doug. I think the next logical question is, “WSOP, what exactly is your process here? How does that specific process ensure game integrity?” In your video you said “You have to imagine that the WSOP does…. X, Y, Z…” But do they?

Doug Im a poker dealer. I find marked cards nightly... youd be surprised art how little tournaments directors look at cards or even care. sometimes they try to just say its not that bad to not have to replace the deck or destroy the deck...

Anybody who wears sunglasses makes me uncomfortable. Ban anybody that wears glasses, even prescription glasses

What’s the song(instrumental) in the background while Doug is talking?

What about allegations that he’s been doing it for years? That sounds like something more established and sinister. Also, angling by trying to look like you’re cheating should not be allowed by the WSOP - it affects game integrity too much.

Damn, I was watching this game live. That guy seemed to be playing exceptionally well tho I also noticed his suspicious moves like standing, I thought it was just his way of playing...

Honestly-change the decks after every hand and different brands/backs. Casinos don't do nearly enough to stop cheating when it is easily stopable.

If the players raised concerns about him possibly cheating, then surely the floor managers or someone could have checked the cards being used for markings? After all, the tournament organizers know which cards he had on each round, so they could have checked if any cards that he had contained any visible markings.

The markings wouldn't be necessarily visible to other players of the dealer if they are subtle enough. Same reason why he would have to lean a lot to see them, because they aren't really that visible at first glance.

I think he's clearly trying to get an edge in a field of GTO pros where there isn't much edge left to get anymore. Tilting your opponents so they play bad is literally just about the oldest trick in the book and getting them to think you're cheating like this would certainly throw them off. I think also if he was cheating he wouldn't be staring at peoples cards for 30 seconds at a time so blatantly like he does he obviously wants people to see him doing that and to worry about it thats the whole game

I am far from a card professional, but if this person is suspected of marking the cards in some way, just change the deck. The time spent shuffling a new deck is likely to be less than the time lost as the person delays every bet.

I've noticed on some poker vlogger videos that they will almost bend the cards when lifting the corners to reveal them to their camera. Not a normal lift to get a peak but where it is noticeable when the cards are then lying face down. Maybe it's just how they look at their cards. It definitely seemed weird to me though.

This was wild to see, when Dan busted and got all heated as he took off his mic. At first it just seemed like mega tilt. But now it’s hard to know

The awkward standing and hovering over opponents cards is absolutely suspect.

1:52 Apologising to a pronunciation. "Sorry sound" I don't know why I do this

It's hard to say if he's cheating. From the outside it looks like he's just an incredible PITA who successfully puts half of the table playing against him off their game. I would hope and expect that the dealer and/or floor/tournament operators is inspecting the cards and reviewing footage at every opportunity.

I'm tired of floors and managers letting TOXIC players ruin the game for everyone else. I do not understand why they let this happen. They let players berate, insult, bully, cheat etc... with no consequences. Aren't they supposed to protect the game?

The only thing worse than this guys antics is Dan Smith’s cowboy hat. It’s almost impossible to cheat in a tournament or cash game that’s broadcast. This went on back in the day when people were drinking in the back room not with 100 camera angles looking at your every move.

I always wondered about the hole card cams they use to show the tv viewers the players cards. If someone could hack into that feed....well, then someone could have a huge advantage.

My father was a good card player and he said the best way to win was not to beat the cards beat the player if you can get in his head you stand a better chance of winning and that is what I think he may be doing.

Doug man you earn more and more respect from my side. I never was a fan of yours but I don't know why. I guess I just simply didn't know you good enough. Seems like you are a really great and intelligent guy. 😎👌

Negreanu mentioned in his vlog the other day that he had found a marked card (the J of diamonds), and reported it. They brought another deck, and the very next shuffle he found another marked card. Also the J of diamonds! That was before this news came out. I've been playing for almost 25 years. There's NO need to be standing up like that to count chips. Everybody else has their chips in ordered stacks. Anybody with any experience (and basic math skills, which you should definitely have at that level) should be able to estimate a player's stack size at a glance. Many players only ask for a count in tournaments because it puts a pause on the shot clock. A bigger issue is that these casinos have a vested interest in finding no wrongdoing in their games. I knew immediately that HCL was never going to find that Robbie Lew did anything wrong; even if she had. It makes the casinos look bad; and people don't want to play in games that aren't on the level.

Amazes me that at a high stakes table, the casinos cant afford a new deck every hand. Ends this "marked cards" debacle.

My dad has played poker a lot from young age and told me once that some times you can intimidate by staring at the back of someone's cards as though you know exactly what they have. Mainly to see if someone is bluffing by breaking their character by making them make mistakes in their character.

I watched one of DNegs vlogs and he made a comment that the J of diamonds was marked in 2 consecutive decks. This was during a very high buy in bracelet event and may have even been this event. Just something to think about

In all final tables, WSOP should rotate through 10 decks and scrutinize each deck as they are passed back to the tournament staff. Every card should be put under a black light and checked for ink, indentations, and other anomalies. If they aren't perfect, the deck should be discarded and replaced.

If a tournament is allowing gameplay like this to continue, then odds are something is going on behind the scenes in that tournament 🤨

So usually in cash games they use Kem cards and just a FYI; most houses sort reverse alphabetical meaning usually the A of spades is face up when put away...it won't be long, w/no weight on it, before it bows noticeably when compared to the rest. Most large tournaments change out the decks routinely, or move w/the dealers during their push

Imagine being at a table with him and Will Kassouf.

There were many hands early on where he kept avoiding putting his cards over the rfid scanner, so we couldn’t see what cards he had, he did it so much the commentators mentioned it must be intentional. Maybe he just didn’t want people to go back and watch his hands, seemed a bit sus though. Dealer had to tell him to put them in place.

It does seem odd that he keeps his cards covered and stacked while his opponents leave their cards separated and in full view. Almost as if he is fearful of someone reversing the whip and doing the same to him.

they need to add a "boundary" rule. to prevent people from those actions

If he's not proven guilty, all that can be done to combat his antics is rule changes. If poker players are all agreeing that what this guy is doing against the spirit of the game, we need to agree and bring in rules to stop it.

Fact... Martin consistently broke rules and was allowed to do so Why have rules then allow them to be broken On top of that he's abrasive and it seems like he gets loud and aggressive so he doesn't get punished for breaking rules He should be penalized and if he continues then to be kicked out

I enjoyed the video Doug. I share your position of being unsure of the truth of cheating allegations. I definitely agree that he's a scumbag. I do want to touch on 2 points you made in your video. 1) If the deck had been checked for markings directly after the event I think we would have heard about it one way or the other. So I disagree that it's been properly investigated. 2) On the K3 v AA hand; it looked like he got forced out by a jam. That said; if he actually knew both cards, then I can see why he might gamble with a weak hand like K3. Obviously it's a bit of a longshot, but if you can crack aces in a no limit tourney, you could easily felt someone.

in high stakes like this i'm surprised they don't swap to a fresh deck of cards every hand

Hard to believe someone is cheating that blatantly at this high of a level. You'd think they would be a bit more discreet. He's a real clown though, needs to get smacked.

Great great video Doug! My respect and applause for your observations here. This was a situation I felt like people we're getting really carried away with. I was already smh thinking we were gonna have another Robbie situation but what you did is put yourself in a cheater's shoes and say does this make sense for a cheater to do? Just like with the Robbie case the answer was no. I want nothing more than to protect the poker community from cheating, I have no sympathy for cheaters but the only thing worse than someone cheating is for someone to be wrongly pegged as a cheater and suffer consequences they don't deserve. I was one pleading due diligence in the Robbie case because people were talking about her cheating as if it were fact. You did a perfect job in this video breaking it all down logically and asking does this make sense if he actually is cheating? You arrived at the same answer I did. It's okay to hate the guy and even wanna change rules so he can't do some of his weird shit but let's make sure we're ultimately aiming for truth and justice. Because you did a good job the comments are filled with people saying "I don't think he cheated, I think he's just weird." And other stuff like that. You influence what millions of people think and say, that's why I encouraged due diligence. Others are terrible at it and wouldn't take the responsibility seriously even after gaining all kinds of subscribers. I'm truly proud of you and this video Doug. Much respect!

2020 - Doug: "Unsubscribe from this channel" ----- 2023 - Doug: "Before we get started, subscribe to this channel"

For me “it makes me uncomfortable” is not viable because if it were 1/2 the field would be gone for BO and not covering their mouths when they cough.

He was literally pretending to cheat to get into their heads, probably devised the strategy beforehand and just gave it a go. Worked well

Doug is spot on . This guy is doing all these antics for attention. He's a short wormy guy who is probably not very well socialized. This is his way to feel powerful.

It scares me at times to play cash at the Dallas area pokerhouses because of this. Way too many marked cards.

I can’t imagine having to perfect a method that give you an advantage. Like knowing the manufacture of the card, the scratch or bending capabilities of the card and so on. 😊

If he was suspected of marking cards then these high rollers should've had an easy time noticing marked cards and calling the floor over to investigate said marked cards However, we never see that, just complaints that he is violating the rule about standing

I really really want to know Phil Ivey’s opinion after playing with him

5:13 you got me for life my man axaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxa

The line is when other players tell the folks setting up the tournament that they will not enter the tournament if they allow someone who is being suspected of cheating in particular or even if he is being so annoying that people choose not to play with him. Or have a vote by the other players. "Will he be allowed to play". Ultimately it is the other players who are being impacted and without the other players, there is no game , period.