July 5, 2019: Reliving the Craziest Day in WSOP Main Event History

Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S.

Jul 05, 2024 4 min read

Phil Ivey Plays Poker in a Bowling Alley
Multiple Poker Players Disqualified

Exactly five years ago to the day, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event experienced one of its wildest sessions ever. One player was tossed from poker's most prestigious tournament for, no joke, exposing his genitalia in the middle of a hand and then throwing his shoe at the dealer. And that's only part of the craziness that transpired.

Later in the day, patrons inside the Rio, which hosted the WSOP at the time, experienced an earthquake that sent shockwaves through the famous Amazon Room. Kevin Martin captured a video of the aftermath.

https://twitter.com/KevinRobMartin/status/1147345580340809730

There were multiple earthquakes that took place in Las Vegas that summer. But only one occurred during the Main Event and forced play to pause. Some poker players were visibly shaken up.

Phil Ivey Plays Poker in a Bowling Alley

July 5, 2019 is one of those days WSOP fans will never forget. Attendance was so high on Day 1c that the WSOP staff was forced to improvise to accommodate demand. As such, tables were opened up in random rooms, including a bowling alley where Phil Ivey was seated.

The 10-time bracelet winner quickly blew through half his stack, perhaps frustrated that he was forced to play poker in a bowling alley. In Level 1, Ivey decided to gamble for his entire stack against Jeffrey Chang.

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Chang opened to 500 from early position with 10♦9♦, and Hirotaka Nakanishi three-bet on his immediate left, and Ivey cold called the three-bet from the button with A♠4♠. Chang came along and the flop came down 9♥7♠10♠, creating some juicy action.

The player with top two pair checked, Nakanishi bet 1,600 and Ivey called. Chang then put in the check-raise to 6,500, Nakanishi called, and Ivey went all in over the top for his last 17,500.

Chang shoved the rest of his stack, and Nakanishi got out of the way. The J♣ added some chop outs to Ivey's flush draw, but he was eliminated in Level 1 when the 3♥ on the river was of no assistance to the Poker Hall of Famer, and his stay at the bowling alley was short lived.

Multiple Poker Players Disqualified

It's rare, but occasionally, Jack Effel and his staff are forced to disqualify a player from the Main Event. On July 5, 2019, they had to send not one, but two players home for unruly behavior.

One player, whose name we'll keep anonymous due to his admitted mental health issues, had moved all in before standing up from his seat while his opponent pondered a decision. Before a call was made, the infamous player proceeded to pull his shorts down, exposing his genitalia. He then ripped off his shoe and tossed it at the dealer.

The player wasn't arrested, but he was removed from the tournament. Hours later, according to reports, he pulled the same stunt on top of a craps table at Luxor, a Las Vegas Strip casino about two miles from the Rio.

There was a second DQ on the same day, and that was Georgii Belianin who reached out to his left-hand neighbor's unattended stack as well and scooped up his entire stack in the process to add it to his. Allegedly, the player did so with a smile on his face leading some to believe it was a poor attempt at humor.

Whatever the case, the player was subsequently disqualified for stealing another person's chips at the table. Effel came over to the table and escorted Belianin out of the tournament area. His chips were removed from play, but he wasn't refunded the $10,000 buy-in.

“Here’s the thing, you’re playing the Main Event you can’t touch other player’s chips," Effel explained to PokerNews following the incident. "The chips that you have in front of you are the ones that belong to you, you shouldn’t be touching chips that don’t belong to you. Plain and simple. Discussing beyond what was seen at the table, everybody saw the exact same thing – he took the chips that were next to him, they didn’t belong to him and you can’t do that when you’re playing the Main Event.”

One player at the table reported he could "smell alcohol" on Belianin's breath. The disqualified player apologized for the incident and took "full responsibility" for his behavior.