Other Poker Pros Back Dan Smith Assertion That Kabrhel is 'a Cheat'
Martin Kabrhel has been accused by Dan Smith of cheating during this year's World Series of Poker $250,000 Super High Roller Bowl.
Smith got even more detailed following his own elimination in this year's World Series of Poker $250,000 Super High Roller Bowl.
"Martin's antics at the table are worse than anyone that I've played with," he said. "People were speculating, there were a lot of discussions whether he was marking cards. Uhm, whether or not that's true, playing with him is unbelievably unpleasant. He's rude, he takes the full thirty seconds every time. Last night playing with him I felt something not quite kosher was going on."
At the time of his elimination, Smith was caught on video engaging in a heated exchange with Kabrhel in which he suggested the Czech poker champ "should be banned".
Kabrhel would go on to finish that event in 3rd place.
Dan Smith (@DanSmithHolla) had some choice words for Martin Kabrhel (@martinkabrhell) after his elimination from the $250,000 Super High Roller Bowl.
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) June 19, 2023
- Watch live here: https://t.co/InAL0tkRzV pic.twitter.com/qoNU9e8qnm
Smith followed that up with more explanation in his bustout interview with @nataliedbode here: pic.twitter.com/9HZ5gRL4hz
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) June 19, 2023
Now other poker players are coming to Smith defense.
“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…,” 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."
Poker pro Andrew Robl tweeted:
“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."
Popular poker pro Chance Kornuth is also calling for a ban of Kabrhel.
Kornuth offered up the following extensive assessment.
"Martin Kabrhel should 100% be banned. But not for the reason that most think... I've had a lot of people asking me about the MK situation in the last few days, and I have given it considerable thought. First, the Floors during this WSOP did a great job, examined the decks and found no cheating, so I see it as one of two scenarios… Martin is possibly cheating in a way that security isn’t able to notice yet or he is intentionally trying to make it look like he is cheating to gain an edge. Regardless of which it is, I think he should be banned from playing the WSOP and other High Roller Tournaments.
"As @Andrew_Robl and others have stated, he has been accused of cheating in the past, which could be grounds to be barred already. He is using this past version of himself to make players in a $250,000 buy-in scared to bluff him because he "might" be cheating (he very loudly and suspiciously suggested that there were sticky substances on the cards during the $250K FT a few days ago). He stands up and makes a show of looking at players cards when he's faced with almost any decision - he knows that he's been accused of marking cards in the past and wants players to be thinking about that - a huge angle shoot.
"But let’s assume for the sake of This thread that Martin isn’t cheating… To have a strategy of making players think you are cheating is bad for the game on multiple levels. He gains an unfair edge and pushes the line of mental warfare too far. The floor does everything it can to protect players from angle shooters and to me what Martin is doing is the ultimate angle… To INTENTIONALLY give the illusion you are cheating in any event, especially the highest of stakes should not be tolerated. Additionally, his antics at the table make for a terrible playing environment and very likely discourage recreational and professional players from wanting to play any event that he is in. He was openly and consistently abusing Alex Kulev and critiquing his play during our $250K final table a few days ago. Even if he's not cheating, he should still be subject to consistent, severe penalties and a potential ban as he is in clear violation of TDA rules - "persistent delay of game, abusive conduct and excessive chatter" ON ALMOST EVERY HAND.
"Poker Hall of Famer and PokerGo President Mori Eskandani had this to say: 'I don’t know if Martin was cheating or not, but one thing is for certain, he created an atmosphere that was extremely distracting and unfair to the other players. Not sure where the poker industry should draw the line.'
"One thing is for sure: Kahbrel's constant abuse, tanking and angle shooting is horrible for poker and he needs to be stopped. We as a community need to do more to get this behavior out of our game."
Tom Dwan, the recent winner of the biggest pot in televised poker history, responded to Kornuth.
"I agree with you. Game integrity is the most important job of any poker organization. If players willing try to call that into question, they should lose their privilege of getting to play. If players have messed up around game integrity, they should face extra scrutiny."
Gambling911.com will certainly continue to monitor the situation.
- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com
