Rule Clarification Results in One-Round Penalty for Deeb

Pot-Limit Omaha

Shaun Deeb's been very active during the pot-limit Omaha portions of this tournament and just now he got involved in back-to-back hands. First, we saw a board on which Deeb bet 1,600 and Nick Schulman raised it up to 4,000. Deeb put in another raise, making it 11,000 to go, and that was enough to get Schulman to fold.

On the very next hand, a flop showing was checked by Tommy Hang and Eli Elezra. Deeb bet 6,500 and Hang folded, but then Elezra committed to seeing the turn with a call. On the turn, the hit and Elezra bet 15,000. Deeb thought for few moments, then called. The river completed the board with the and Elezra bet 32,000.

After Elezra's bet, Deeb went into the tank. Halfway through Deeb's tanking process, he showed just the from his hand after shuffling back through his four cards. He turned the two tens face up on the table, then turned the cards back over. Eventually, Deeb made the call and Elezra announced that he could not beat a set of tens. Deeb showed his complete hand, which also included the and , and took down this pot.

After the hand, the players at the table started talking about whether or not Deeb's action was legal, and some suggested that Deeb was lucky his hand wasn't ruled dead. Elezra, clearly interested in what the actual ruling would've been, called over the tournament director. The tournament director listened to the players explain what had happened and eventually ruled that Deeb would get a one-round penalty. While the hand was already over, and Elezra only seemed to have been interested in what the rule was, Deeb had to step away from the table for six hands.

"I just can't help myself," Deeb said with a big smile, as he walked past the PokerNews desk.

Six hands later, Deeb returned, but not before Tweeting the following.