2023 PokerStars EPT Cyprus

$2,200 Eureka High Roller
Day: 1a
Event Info

2023 PokerStars EPT Cyprus

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q6
Prize
$338,460
Event Info
Buy-in
$2,200
Prize Pool
$2,772,480
Entries
1,444
Level Info
Level
37
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
600,000
Players Info - Day 1a
Entries
1,011
Players Left
152

Controversy on Table 17

Level 11 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
Merijn van Rooij
Merijn van Rooij

A controversial hand on Table 17 captured the attention of most of the tournament room.

There was around 60,000 in the pot on the 3287J board. Merijn van Rooij announced all in from early position, and his opponent, Maan El Hachem, called off his remaining stack of 17,200.

Van Rooij tabled his KK for a pair of kings. El Hachem kept his cards face down and pushed them forward, thinking Van Rooij had KJ for a flush. The dealer then placed his cards on top of the muck, where they were still easily retrievable.

El Hachem then realised that Van Rooij had just a pair of kings, and he could beat that. El Hachem said he had deuces, which was good for a set, and the cards were taken from the top of the muck and turned over. It showed that El Hachem indeed had 2x2x.

The floor was then called over, and the initial ruling was that El Hachem's hand was dead due to going into the muck. El Hachem and a few players at the table then said his hand should still be alive because when there is an all-in and a call, the cards should go on their backs.

The floor went to EPT Tournament Director Toby Stone for a final say due to the grey area about hands going into the muck in this scenario. The decision was made during the tail end of the break, and the original decision had been overruled, and it was declared that El Hachem's hand was still in play. With that, he scooped in the pot.

"At all-in and call, it is the dealer's responsibility to protect the player's cards, so for this reason, the hand is still alive," said Stone.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Merijn van Rooij nl
Merijn van Rooij
150,000
-28,000
-28,000
Profile photo of Maan El Hachem lb
Maan El Hachem
95,000
95,000
95,000
Profile photo of Benjamin Spragg gb
Benjamin Spragg
85,000
38,000
38,000

Tags: Maan El HachemMerijn van Rooij